Marine Le Pen, the far-right figure who is the leading candidate in France’s presidential elections next year, said she would be open to a future meeting with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy.
A meeting between Ms. Le Pen, who leads the far-right National Rally party, and Mr. Zelenskyy would be politically and diplomatically significant ahead of France’s 2027 presidential election.
With incumbent President Emmanuel Macron term-limited, recent polling in France shows Ms. Le Pen holding a commanding lead in both the first-round voting and any projected second-round runoff scenarios.
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In October, Ms. Le Pen said that if she wins the presidential election, her administration would continue financial aid to Ukraine for six months before halting it completely. In an interview with French media last month, she called it a transitional period to give Ukraine and other European countries time to adjust.
“From the moment of my election, for six months we will maintain aid so as not to leave anyone in an impossible situation,” Ms. Le Pen said. “But after that, we will stop financial aid to Ukraine, because we no longer have the ability to provide it.”
Mr. Zelenskyy has framed French support to Ukraine as a “win-win” scenario. He has taken a pragmatic approach toward Ms. Le Pen, aiming to persuade her that cutting off support would hurt France’s own interests. He told the Financial Times that European countries are gaining valuable experience from the Ukrainian military to improve the combat readiness of their armies.
“We also give something in return,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.
On Friday, Ms. Le Pen said European countries have borrowed about $99 billion so far to support Ukraine, and several oppose additional funding.
“If I get to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels, it will be interesting to discuss this,” she said on social media.
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