PARIS (Reuters) -France needs to mobilise to prepare for the probable scenario of energy shortages this autumn because Russia is using cuts in supplies to Europe as a weapon in its war with Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.
Speaking in a televised interview to mark France’s national day, Macron said part of that mobilisation would involve French consumers and businesses scaling back their energy use.
“We need to prepare ourselves for a scenario where we have to manage completely without Russian gas,” he said.
He said he would soon submit a detailed plan for restraint in energy consumption.
He also said France needed, in the light of Russia’s invasion, to keep strengthening its army, accelerate the manufacture of new military equipment and replenish its stocks of munitions.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Writing by Christian Lowe; editing by John Stonestreet)
