The key facts
- Le Pen promises to keep aid for 6 months after election, then end it
- Zelensky: France 'can only win' from cooperation, Ukraine 'reciprocates'
- According to the Kiel Institute, France has provided Ukraine with 27 billion euros since 2022
Le Pen offers Zelensky a debate
The question of French aid to Ukraine has become one of the topics of the 2027 presidential election campaign. Speaking on Thursday on CNews, National Rally leader Marine Le Pen said she is ready to personally travel to Ukraine and discuss this issue with Volodymyr Zelensky: 'We could quite easily discuss this topic at any time convenient for him. If Mr. Zelensky wants us to talk, I would be happy to come to Ukraine. But I want to tell him that we no longer have the financial capacity to provide aid.' She also stressed that she 'personally has nothing against Zelensky' — including in a post on X accompanying her appearance.
Promise to end aid in six months
The day before, on Wednesday, in an interview with the Flemish channel VRT News, Le Pen criticized the cost of French support for Ukraine, estimating it at 6 billion euros per year. This figure roughly corresponds to the average annual volume of French aid since February 2022, including bilateral programs and contributions to European mechanisms. 'From the moment of my election, for six months we will maintain aid so as not to put anyone against the wall. But then we will end financial aid to Ukraine, because we can no longer afford it,' she said. In the 'alternative budget' presented last week by Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, the party proposes saving 140 billion euros by 2032, reducing the deficit below 3% of GDP by 2030 and cutting debt to 112% of GDP while lowering taxes by 30 billion euros.
Zelensky's response
The Ukrainian president noted that 'Mrs. Le Pen does not understand some details very well' of Franco-Ukrainian military cooperation. In an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, he defended the effectiveness of this cooperation, especially in defense technology: France, in his words, 'can only win from it,' while Ukraine 'reciprocates.' Zelensky noted that the combat experience of the Ukrainian army allows France to test and improve equipment in real combat conditions, citing the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense systems, repeatedly modified to account for the situation at the front, and the Franco-British Scalp/Storm Shadow missiles. According to him, this is a 'mutually beneficial' partnership.
Reaction of the authorities and rivals
Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, after talks with Zelensky in Brussels, once again confirmed France's support, calling it 'fundamentally important' to provide Kyiv with 'all the necessary means' to protect the population and infrastructure amid intensified Russian strikes, and assured that 'France will continue to fulfill its commitments.' Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that ending aid would be 'the surest way to bring the war closer to our borders.' Renaissance candidate Gabriel Attal accused Le Pen of wanting to 'leave the Ukrainians to their fate,' emphasizing: 'Support for Ukraine is not a humanitarian gesture for complacency, it is our own defense.' Social Democratic primary winner Raphaël Glucksmann called Le Pen's position 'capitulation' and 'submission' to Vladimir Putin, saying on France 5 that she 'must in no case come to power.' Horizons candidate Édouard Philippe called her statements 'treason' on X.
Reactions beyond the race and aid figures
Le Pen's statements resonated beyond the circle of her rivals. Liberal lawyer and commentator on the Les Grandes Gueules program on RMC Charles Consigny believes her position plays into Putin's hands: 'Putin is eagerly awaiting the victory of Marine Le Pen,' he wrote on X. Within the National Rally, MP Laure Lavalette supported ending financial support for Kyiv: 'We can no longer help Ukraine. The treasury is empty,' she said on RMC, while admitting she did not know the size of the French contribution. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiel Institute), since the start of the Russian invasion France has allocated a total of 27 billion euros to Ukraine, of which 7.9 billion is bilateral aid and 19 billion through European mechanisms. In absolute terms, the largest European donor remains Germany — more than 50 billion euros since February 2022, ahead of France, Italy and the Netherlands; relative to GDP, Denmark and Estonia lead in bilateral aid.
