French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has said she will keep supplying Ukraine with defensive military equipment but opposes any further financial assistance. “Given the scale of what we have already done, which is significant, we are saying that we can no longer do this,” the leader of the far‑right National Rally told LCI on Wednesday evening.
Le Pen stressed that this is not an act of hostility toward Ukraine. In her view, France can continue to train Ukrainian soldiers and provide the equipment they need for defence. However, “financially, we can no longer do this,” she added.
France’s financial challenges and position on the EU
Marine Le Pen is leading the polls ahead of next spring’s presidential election, which will decide the successor to Emmanuel Macron. A central theme of the campaign is France’s strained public finances, with the state budget deficit this year potentially exceeding 5%.
Direct French aid to Ukraine is relatively modest, but the National Rally has long opposed an EU loan to Kyiv of 90 billion euros, which would be guaranteed by the EU budget funded by member‑state contributions. Party representatives have privately warned that Ukraine will never be able to repay the loan and that the repayment burden would ultimately fall on EU countries.
“You cannot, on the one hand, claim there is not a single euro to adjust pensions for inflation, and on the other hand, say there are billions for a net contribution to the European Union,” Le Pen said.
Within the National Rally, there are internal disagreements over Russia, Ukraine and NATO. Her political opponents have repeatedly accused the party of actions that, in their view, play into the Kremlin’s hands and could damage its credibility. French media have also repeatedly asked party leaders to clarify their stance on aid to Kyiv.
Proposal for a peace conference
In the Wednesday interview, Le Pen said that, if elected president, France would organise a peace conference involving Russia, Ukraine and other European nations, including Germany and Poland. She said the conference’s aim would be to end the war.
She also rejected proposals from her rivals—former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Member of the European Parliament Raphaël Glucksmann—to protect Ukrainian airspace with French fighter jets. Paris has so far refused to consider such a measure.
“That would make us a party to the war,” Le Pen told LCI.
Source: Politico
