Macron convenes French party leaders as soaring energy prices put focus on wars in Iran and Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron has convened a meeting with party leaders to discuss the country's energy crisis. According to Renaud Foucart, a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Lancaster University's Management School, Macron's meeting is an attempt to force prospective successors to confront high energy costs and limited fiscal room.

The energy crisis is not the only challenge France is facing, as Russia has seized the businesses and assets of several Western companies, including Swiss food giant Nestle and three French groups: retailer Auchan, DIY chain Lemana Pro (formerly Leroy Merlin), and logistics company FM Logistic. According to Live Mint, Nestle's Russian operations primarily manufacture and distribute products such as coffee, pet care, infant nutrition, and confectionery, but Russia represents only just over 1% of Nestle's global sales.

The seizures are part of Russia's retaliation against Western sanctions and what it considers hostile actions by countries supporting Ukraine. A decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin transferred the Russian operations of these companies to a firm called LEV Management.

Brief written by urgent.news from France 24, Live Mint, The Citizen — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.