France says U.S. must work with Europe, G7 over Russia sanctions
PARIS -- The United States should coordinate with European countries and G7 partners before imposing new sanctions on Russia, France's foreign ministry said on Friday, a day after senators approved new measures on Moscow that could impact European Union firms.
U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday backed sanctions against Russia over the country's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, including some on certain Russian energy projects. The move was not coordinated with European Union allies.
"For several years, we have underlined to the United States the difficulties that extraterritorial legislation spark," a French foreign ministry spokesman told reporters in a daily online briefing.
"On subjects linked to security and European industrial policy, we would like the United States to respect the required coordination, notably within the G7 framework," he said.
He was referring to the group of seven major industrialised nations that also includes Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan.
