French far-right politician Marine Le Pen said in an interview with CNN on July 5 that her party is against continuing to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles and the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron has long supported providing Ukraine with long-range missiles, and France already supplies Ukraine with long-range SCALP missiles, the equivalent of the British Storm Shadows.
Macron said in May that he would not rule out the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. Kyiv has not appealed to the West to send its troops to Ukraine, instead asking for increased arms supplies to help its soldiers fend off Russia.
After months of discussion, Macron said on June 7 that France was finalizing a coalition of countries to send military instructors to Ukraine.
Le Pen spoke with CNN ahead of France's second round of elections on July 7. Le Pen's party, National Rally, emerged as the most popular party in the first round on June 30.
Prior to February 2022, Le Pen openly expressed her admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and said she did not believe Russia's annexation of Crimea was illegal.
Le Pen told CNN she recognized that Russia has violated Ukraine's territorial integrity and "we have condemned Russia in this matter," but claimed that Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 was "more complicated than it is made out to be."
"We have two red lines, sending French troops to Ukrainian territory...and the delivery of long-range weapons that could hit Russia, and therefore make France a co-beligerent in this conflict," Le Pen said.
Le Pen is the president of the National Rally grouping in the French Parliament, but the leader of the party is Jordan Bardella, a 28-year-old member of the European Parliament.
Bardella said on June 19 that he would continue supporting Ukraine if elected prime minister, but also ruled out sending French troops or supplying the country with long-range weapons.
Ukraine's partners are divided on to what extent Kyiv should be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons to carry out strikes on military targets in Russia.
The U.S. gave Ukraine permission on June 1 to use American-supplied weapons, including HIMARS rockets, to strike targets in Russia located near the border with Kharkiv Oblast after Russia launched a renewed offensive in the region on May 10.
Ukraine is still prohibited from using ATACMS and other long-range U.S.-supplied weapons for strikes deeper inside Russia.
Kateryna Denisova
(Updated: )
