Le Pen would end French aid to Ukraine after six months

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said this week she would halt France’s financial aid to Ukraine about six months after taking office if she wins the 2027 presidential election, according to reports on her interviews with VRT News and the Financial Times published Oct. 15.

The shift matters because Ukraine is already short of money. The Brussels summit that ended Oct. 16 closed without a deal on a funding gap of about 70 billion euros for 2027, according to Euronews, and France is one of the largest contributors to the EU budget that would carry that support. This story is developing and the interview texts have not been independently reviewed by Canada News Media.

Le Pen told VRT News in Brussels, on the sidelines of a meeting with allies in the Patriots grouping of European right-wing parties, that France would keep funding Kyiv for six months so as not to “back anyone into a corner” right after an election, the Romanian outlet Informat reported. After that, she argued, France would not have the resources, and she claimed the country is “on the verge of defaulting” on its public debt. She rejected accusations that she would betray Ukraine and said other EU states in a stronger financial position could take over support, without naming any.

In the Financial Times interview, as relayed by the Italian daily Il Foglio, she said: “The honest thing to do with Zelensky is to tell him, or rather to warn him, that we cannot do any more.” Asked whether Russia is the main threat to European security, she replied: “I cannot read Mr. Putin’s mind and I do not know his plans.” Il Foglio’s English edition is machine-translated, so the wording may differ from the original.

The Ukrainian outlet 24 Channel, summarizing the Financial Times piece, reported that Le Pen would keep only minimal operational support and training for Ukrainian soldiers, would withhold part of France’s contribution to the next seven-year EU budget to block its adoption, and opposes Ukraine’s EU membership, which her party calls a “red line.” It quoted her as saying: “We’ve already provided loans totalling 90 billion euros, of which 18 billion comes from France.” The outlet said a unilateral cut in EU contributions would breach EU treaties. It put French public debt at 119 per cent of gross domestic product, and Le Pen’s five-year plan at a 140-billion-euro deficit reduction.

Informat described the six-month window as a change from her recent position that aid would stop immediately on taking office. It reported that polls show her as the favourite in the spring 2027 vote. Le Pen and her party colleague Jordan Bardella have rejected claims they are close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Il Foglio noted they condemned what they called Russian “acts of hostility committed in Europe” a few weeks earlier.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded that Le Pen underestimates the benefits of cooperation, 24 Channel reported. “The goal is to help Ukraine become strong, and in return, Ukraine will ensure security and share its experience,” he said, adding that the cost of support is “not as high as human lives.” He pointed to the French-Italian SAMP/T air defence system as an example of mutual benefit.

Her comments land as other European leaders press the opposite case. Canada News Media reported Oct. 16 that EU leaders backed Zelenskyy at the summit, and that the EU budget talks ended split. On Oct. 17 the EU and Ukraine launched a joint task force on membership reforms, as covered in our report on the Magyar and Zelenskyy meeting.

For Canadians, the main interest is among Ukrainian-Canadian families and anyone tracking Western support for Kyiv: a French government that stops funding would shift more of the burden to other backers, though no such request to Canada has been reported. Le Pen has not set a date for any change, and the election is not expected before spring 2027.

Via VRT News (as reported by Informat), the Financial Times (as reported by Il Foglio and 24 Channel).

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