France and its allies in Europe are working on a "very substantial package of sanctions" against Russia, Anne-Claire Legendre, spokeswoman of the French foreign ministry, told FRANCE 24 in an interview on Saturday.
"We’ve been working very closely with our allies, both in Europe and with our transatlantic allies, in the past few weeks," Legendre said. "We want these sanctions to kick in very quickly and crush the Russian economy."
She said France and its European partners had also prepared mitigating measures in case Russian President Vladimir Putin retaliated by cutting energy supplies.
"Of course, as our minister for energy and ecology (Barbara Pompili) has said very clearly, we are ready in France to face a cut in [energy] supply by Vladimir Putin. We have been working to find a way to diversify supplies," Legendre said.
She said France and its allies were also discussing the likeliness of a new migrant crisis in Europe as a result of the Russian invasion. The UN has said more than 50,000 Ukrainians have already fled, mostly to Poland and Moldova.
To watch the full interview, click on the video player above.
