Yannick Jadot, the Green candidate in the upcoming French presidential election, has accused TotalEnergies of being an accomplice of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the bombing of civilians, and furthermore, that the oil giant is complicit in war crimes.
Jadot has been outraged by the continued presence of French companies in Russia and has gone on the offensive against giant companies, including French oil giant TotalEnergies.
TotalEnergies has announced it has the intention to sue Jadot for the remarks.
At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Jadot first accused TotalEnergies, saying it was an accomplice of Putin and for the bombings of civilians. A few weeks later, Jadot took a harsher stance and accused the company of being complicit in war crimes. He confirmed this position at a press conference on French sanctions against Russia this week.
TotalEnergies responded immediately, saying they will be suing the candidate for “defamation.” TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne defended the company’s decision to not withdraw from Russia in the media. In a radio interview on Wednesday, Pouyanne spoke of his outrage over the “insult” that Jadot levied at “100,000 employees.”
Other oil giants have ceased activities in Russia, including Shell and ENI. But TotalEnergies announced it will stop purchasing oil products in Russia by the end of the year at the latest. Shell and ENI, on the other hand, immediately ceased activities.
Jadot said that TotalEnergies is very much aware of the atrocities that Russia is committing in Ukraine and that working with economic groups close to Putin makes them complicit, and also discredits France.
TotalEnergies claims that its decision to keep working in Russia complies with European Union policy and that the sanctions are targeted at Putin’s regime.
The NATO summit is being held today in Brussels, and the Elysee Palace said that if there is a will on an embargo, the issue should be dealt with in a long-term manner by redefining the French and European energy strategy.
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