French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is heading to Turkey to persuade Ankara not to become a platform for circumventing Western sanctions imposed against Russia after the United States said Turkish businesses faced the risk of sanctions, Reuters reported.

"Europe has adopted sanctions, the United States too, and other allies and partners, but others haven’t adopted a sanctions policy, for example Turkey," Catherine Colonna told RTL radio ahead of a two-day visit to Turkey. "It’s important that these countries don’t serve as a platform to circumvent sanctions."

Turkish firms have bought or tried to buy Russian assets from Western partners, but some hold large assets in Russia. Ankara said Western sanctions in Turkey could not be circumvented.

However, in late August, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Wally Adeyemo sent a letter to Turkish authorities warning of the possible risk of sanctions if Turkish companies establish relations with Russian entities and individuals under sanctions.

A French diplomatic source said there were “temptations” among Turkish businesses and individuals to work with Russia and Colonna would discuss the issue to prevent such a dynamic gathering pace.

The EU does not have a mechanism designed to impose sanctions on specific entities that circumvent sanctions, but the diplomat said that if it becomes a serious problem, the EU can look into it. "The first step before going down that road is to ensure our big partners, our allies in NATO and a country which aspires to EU candidacy status does not enter a logic of circumventing sanctions and uses its national tools to ... ensure its economic actors don’t enter this logic," the diplomat said.