Blocking Russian oil, gas imports would mean hara-kiri for Europe, says Le Pen

French National Rally presidential candidate Marine Le Pen believes blocking Russia's imports of oil and gas would mean hara-kiri for Europe, but would do no harm to Russia itself.

"We cannot commit hara-kiri with the hope of hurting Russia," she said during a televised debate with French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday evening. Le Pen will face incumbent president in a presidential runoff scheduled for 24 April, reports TASS.

Macron's far-right challenger claimed she opposed imposing an embargo on Russia's gas and oil supplies as it would do harm to French people. "The only sanctions I disagree with is the blocking of Russian oil and gas imports. Why do I disagree? Because in reality it will do no harm to Russia and will do enormous harm to our people," she explained.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 24 February that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine, stressing that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and a number of other states responded to the actions of the Russian authorities by slapping sanctions against Russian physical and legal entities.