15:33 12.06.2015(updated 16:43 12.06.2015)

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150612/1023276580.html

The United States is pushing Europe towards anti-Russian policies which are detrimental to the interests of the European Union (EU), Thierry Mariani, the former French Minister of Transport and the current member of the French National Assembly, told RT France in an interview.

Mariani brought up two good examples that show how Europe has fallen into a trap set by the United States.

First, trade between the EU and Russia has dramatically fallen since last year, meanwhile trade between Washington and Moscow has increased.

"This means the United States told us [the EU] to do the opposite of what [they] do and continue doing maximum business because it suits them," Mariani told RT France.

Second, Washington urged Paris not to sell two Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia; in the meantime, US company Dell Inc. is about to expand to Yekaterinburg, the capital of Russia's Sverdlovsk region.

Europe is being manipulated by the United States to impose "stupid sanctions" that ultimately hurt the economies of the EU and Russia, but are beneficial to Washington, Mariani said.

Mariani also added that since 2003, the United States has led a policy of chaos and destruction in the Middle East. The Former Minister of Transport hailed Jacques Chirac, who unlike current French President Francois Hollande, had the wisdom and strength to refuse US pressure and join the 2003 Iraq invasion campaign.

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IZAKOVIC