Kremlin security council deputy chief lashes out as France urges Moscow to reverse takeover of Auchan, Nestlé and Lemana Pro assets
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said Europe understood only the language of strength, in a pointed response to growing concern over the fate of European companies’ assets still operating in Russia.
France called on Moscow on Friday to reconsider its decision to take control of assets belonging to Auchan, Nestlé and Lemana Pro (formerly Leroy Merlin), a move the Kremlin justified on the grounds that the firms came from what it called “unfriendly countries.” Under a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin and published on Thursday, the companies’ assets are to be transferred “temporarily” to the Russian firm L.E.V. Management.
Writing on Telegram, Medvedev, a former Russian president and prime minister who now leads the governing United Russia party, said that today, as a century ago, he claimed European nations understood only naked force. He accused Western governments of effectively waging war against Russia by supplying Ukraine with weapons, including missiles, while simultaneously seeking to shield companies such as Nestlé and Auchan that continue to generate substantial profits in Russia.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the imposition of the first Western sanctions, numerous multinational companies have withdrawn from the Russian market, with the assets of some seized and subsequently transferred to Russian firms. A number of companies have nonetheless continued operating in Russia, drawing sharp criticism from Ukraine and other countries, which accuse them of effectively helping to finance the Russian state and its war effort.
Medvedev argued that the United States — where President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday new sanctions legislation targeting Russia over the war in Ukraine — should be treated no differently to Europe, saying those “on the other side of the ocean” also understood only the language of direct military deterrence. He said this was the register in which Russia needed to respond to what he called “Russophobic, repugnant actions,” citing the sanctions bill associated with the late US senator Lindsey Graham.
The legislation, the first major congressional initiative targeting Russia since Trump’s return to the presidency, is aimed primarily at Russia’s energy sector. It is named for its chief sponsor, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who died in July and had been one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine and critics of Russia in the US Senate.
