Marine Le Pen, France’s hard-Right presidential candidate, has accused Europe of waging an energy war against Russia and vowed to end funding for Ukraine if she wins next year’s election.
Ms Le Pen, who is leading or near the front of several opinion polls, said she would halt France’s bilateral aid to Kyiv within six months, arguing that the country can no longer afford the spending.
She said the “honest thing” for the European Union to do would be to tell Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that it could no longer manage to provide financial support for his cause.
The Eurosceptic National Rally leader has consistently opposed Ukraine joining the EU and criticised the bloc’s sanctions against Russia. She argued that those policies had helped create an “energy war” between Europe and Moscow.
Her comments came as Mr Zelensky resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries, ending a proposed pause in strikes against energy infrastructure. The Ukrainian president said the United States had cut off intelligence sharing and access to vital satellite data.
Ms Le Pen accused the EU of acting foolishly in its confrontation with the Kremlin. Speaking to the Financial Times, she said: “We the EU have led an energy war against Russia, when we haven’t got any energy. It is not very smart.”
The remarks come as the National Rally leader campaigns for the French presidency on a platform that puts France’s interests ahead of those of other countries.
In her interview with the newspaper, Ms Le Pen also claimed that the French state was spending a substantial amount of money on measures that “do not contribute to the country’s development”.
France’s hard-Right leader Marine Le Pen spoke to the press in an interview in July
Ms Le Pen met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in 2017
She is currently forecast to top the first round of voting in April, with support of more than 30 per cent.
The EU is due to lend Ukraine €45billion (£38billion) in 2027 as part of a €90billion (£76billion) financial package set aside by the bloc.
However, critics have questioned whether the EU can continue providing financial support to Kyiv, amid estimates that Ukraine could need a further €70billion (£59billion).
At a press conference on Tuesday, Ms Le Pen said France’s net contribution should be limited to €5billion (£4.3billion), a sharp reduction from its current funding level of about €8billion (£6.8billion).
By reducing France’s contribution, Ms Le Pen hopes to disrupt EU plans for a seven-year budget worth up to €100billion (£84billion).
Ms Le Pen has longstanding links to Russia through a controversial loan from a Russian bank that was used to finance her party’s 2014 election campaigns.
She later travelled to Moscow, where she met President Vladimir Putin in 2017.
The National Rally candidate subsequently condemned the Kremlin’s aggression in 2022, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Donald Trump of a “betrayal” over the loss of crucial satellite data during an episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored on Wednesday
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s oil infrastructure was on fire again today after a fuel terminal spectacularly reignited following a five-day blaze in Rostov-on-Don
By allowing Ukraine to join the EU, Ms Le Pen has previously criticised Brussels of stripping its member states of economic and political control.
Her remarks come after Mr Zelensky publicly condemned US President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Mr Zelensky agreed he felt ‘betrayed’ by Mr Trump’s actions over the past few days, and warned the president: ‘This is not the right side of history.’
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In a separate interview with the FT, the Ukrainian leader said the cutting off of US intelligence sharing and the simultaneous weakening of Starlink satellite internet service was ‘dangerous’ for civilians.
‘The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,’ Mr Zelensky said defiantly.
It comes as a big drone attack on Russia’s Ryazan region caused a fire to break out at an oil refinery, marking the first Ukrainian strike on an energy facility since Mr Trump announced on Sunday a surprise ‘energy ceasefire’.
Separately, a fuel terminal spectacularly reignited after blazing for five days in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia.
Mr Zelensky had paused energy strikes for three days to comply with US wishes, but said he would now resume them because Mr Putin was still attacking Ukraine’s essential infrastructure.
Zelensky had paused energy strikes for three days to comply with US wishes, but said he would now resume them because Putin was still attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
Elon Musk – whose company SpaceX operates the Starlink satellites which have slowed down in recent days – took to X to condemn Ukraine’s resumption of attacks on Russia’s oil facilities.
‘And so the slaughter continues,’ the tech billionaire wrote. ‘Time for Zelensky to go.’
Mr Zelensky lambasted Mr Trump over his apparent admiration for Mr Putin, accusing the US president of having an instinctive affinity for autocrats and the super-wealthy.
Mr Trump has in recent days demanded Mr Zelensky quit as leader, signed a ‘treacherous’ deal with Mr Putin to buy Russian diesel and blamed the Ukrainian leader for spiralling energy prices.
‘He [Mr Trump] speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such people and he respects such people. Because for him people who can be leaders 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, it means they can be very strong,’ Mr Zelensky said.
Washington has piled pressure on Kyiv to stop striking Mr Putin’s refineries, claiming that a moratorium, alongside a US deal with Moscow to buy hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel, is necessary to bring down American fuel prices.
Despite Ukraine’s honouring of the ceasefire, Mr Zelensky said his military had been left without US early-warning alerts for incoming ballistic missiles, while Mr Musk’s Starlink satellite communications service had been slowed down across the nation, interfering with frontline operations and medium-range strikes against Russian military sites.
The Ukrainian leader said his military officials were told by their US counterparts that ‘if you will not stop [the energy strikes], we will block intelligence’, although it was subsequently presented to Kyiv as a technical error.
‘It was not a technical problem, it was the will,’ Mr Zelensky told the FT.
The US president earlier denied that Washington had cut off intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Mr Musk posted on X late on Wednesday that Starshield systems, the military-grade satellite network built on Starlink technology, were ‘owned and controlled by the US government’.
‘Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,’ he said, referring to Mr Trump.
The breakdown in relations between Kyiv and Washington comes as American officials have proposed that European countries unfreeze some Russian sovereign assets immobilised after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The assets would be transferred to a vehicle overseen by Washington in an attempt to revive peace talks.
European delegates rebuffed the plan, which was pitched by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the FT said.
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