Berlin - The head of the French oil company Total, Christophe de Marjerie, has urged Western countries to forgo their sanctions policy against Russia and start a constructive dialogue with Moscow over the situation in Ukraine.
“What I am calling for is not the protection of Russian interests but only a greater understanding. Sanctions are a path to stalemate. We need a constructive dialogue because we (Western countries and Russia) are economically dependent on one another,” he said in an interview with Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
“We must not let ourselves be convinced that Russia is our enemy, given that energy supplies to us are largely dependent precisely on that country. We should not believe the caricature about ‘good’ pro-western Ukrainians and ‘bad’ pro-Russian Ukrainians,” de Marjerie added.
