PARIS, October 16. /TASS/. The United States continues boosting trade with Moscow despite sanctions and Europe should also expand its presence in Russia, Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov and France’s envoy to Russia Sylvie Bermann told the business forum "Meetings with Russia" on Wednesday at Business France agency.
"Russian-US business was and continues growing, including in the most high-tech areas. That’s because our American partners never shoot themselves in the foot, like our European friends do, unfortunately," Meshkov stated.
Washington buys Russia’s rocket engines and even military items and there are no restrictions in the nuclear field either, the diplomat recalled. "That’s why it’s vital for European countries and European business to protect their own economic interests," Meshkov noted.
The Russian ambassador highlighted that foreign companies should be interested in localizing their production on Russia’s soil. "Those who come to Russia with their own technologies will surely gain advantage over their counterparts, who use simple export and import operations," he explained.
In her turn, French Ambassador to Russia Sylvie Bermann agreed that France and Europe should enhance business cooperation with Russia. "We should not only export and import goods, but also invest in projects on the country’s territory," she stressed, giving as an example cooperation as part of the Yamal LNG project, which offered opportunities for Total and also small and medium-sized enterprises.
"Two countries — the US and China — managed to boost trade [with Russia]," Bermann said, noting that the US was waging trade war against Europe. "We need to show the path and Europeans should be represented because France has good political positions for creating favorable climate," she stated.