PARIS, December 15. /TASS/. Paris needs to maintain dialogue with Moscow, Marion Marechal, deputy head of the Reconquista right-wing party and former MP (from 2012 to 2017) of the French National Assembly (lower house of parliament), said on the LCI TV channel.

"When it comes to French interests, you need to be able to maintain a dialogue," she said. "Russia will not disappear from our continent, it will remain our neighbor, whether we like it or not. It is necessary to maintain dialogue through diplomatic means."

Marechal emphasized that France, in particular, needs to work with Russia in law enforcement.

She also agreed with the position of former French President (2007-2012) Nicolas Sarkozy, who considers it necessary to keep a dialogue going with Russia. "As Sarkozy has correctly pointed out, either you destroy your rival, and I don't think anyone today is thinking about the possibility of destroying a nuclear power, that being Russia, or you come to the negotiating table. That is what is required," Mareschal concluded.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the combined Direct Line Q&A session and year-end press conference that Moscow was ready to continue cooperating with Paris if France was interested.