PARIS. Sept 2 (Interfax) - The policy of any sanctions is fatal for all parties and French colleagues are urged to develop cooperation, Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said at a meeting with representatives of French political, public and business circles during his working visit to France.
"We still think that any sanctions - personal, against certain companies, and sectoral - are evil, which does not add optimism either to politicians or businessmen. They develop the order of global economy formed for decades and simply throw us to the last century," Naryshkin said.
Russia did not respond to sanctions declared regarding it by the United States and the EU states for almost five months, he said.
"These sanctions are illegitimate and legally vain because they are not based on any just court rulings and are not based on UN resolutions," Naryshkin said.
Russia hoped to the last that foreign colleagues will understand themselves that the policy of sanctions can lead to a dead end, the Duma speaker said.
"Such practice is twice as unacceptable in relations with France - the country, with which we have deep traditions and, I would say, privileged partnership," Naryshkin said.
France was among top ten major agriculture suppliers to Russia, he said.
"According to expert assessments, the damage French farmers and food industry representations will suffer as a result of the sanctions could amount to 1 billion euro this year alone," Naryshkin said.
As history shows, any cooling ends sooner or later but it is better if this happens as quickly as possible, he said.
"Let us not waste time and concentrate on developing further our contacts and our cooperation," Naryshkin said.