French presidential candidates clash over aid to Ukraine

A pledge by France's National Rally to halt aid to Ukraine if it takes power has opened a sharp clash between Marine Le Pen and Édouard Philippe, two leading figures in the 2027 presidential race.

The dispute began when Louis Aliot, the National Rally's vice-president and mayor of Perpignan, was asked by BFMTV whether the party planned to “turn off the tap” on aid to Ukraine. Aliot confirmed that it would halt support if the far right came to power. He said France's healthcare system, education system and economy were near exhaustion while money continued to finance weapons.

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Turning off the tap on Ukraine means serving Russia. Weakening Ukraine, as Marine Le Pen seeks to do, is a threat to the security of Europe and France. I will do everything I can to prevent this.

Philippe, a former prime minister and candidate for the centre-right Horizons party, said ending aid would serve Russia. He argued that weakening Ukraine, as he said Le Pen sought to do, would threaten the security of both France and Europe. Philippe said he would do everything possible to prevent that outcome.

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Since the beginning of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, I have been calling on France to urgently convene a major peace conference to promote not the continuation of bloodshed, but a diplomatic settlement to this terrible war, which, I remind you, has already claimed the lives of two million people, something you failed either to stand up for or achieve.

Le Pen responded by attacking Philippe's international, economic and budgetary record. She said she had called since the beginning of Russia's aggression for France to convene a major peace conference aimed at a diplomatic settlement rather than continued bloodshed. She also pointed to the reception of Vladimir Putin at Versailles and Fort de Brégançon while Philippe was prime minister during Emmanuel Macron's first term.

Philippe answered by highlighting Le Pen's ties to Russia and calling her the “voice of weakness and criminal appeasement of the Kremlin”. He said Russia's invasion had made the conflict clear: a dictator-aggressor had attacked a democracy. He accused Le Pen of opposing arms deliveries to Ukraine and sanctions against Moscow, and said Ukraine would have been abandoned if she had been elected.

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The healthcare system, the education system, the entire economy, everyone is on the verge of exhaustion, yet they still find money to continue financing weapons, but who pays for all this?

France will hold its presidential election in two rounds in late April and early May 2027. Le Pen remains the frontrunner in opinion polls. The dispute also follows a complaint filed in August by former prime minister and presidential candidate Gabriel Attal over suspected Russian disinformation.

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Since Russia invaded Ukraine, everything has become clear: there is a dictator-aggressor and a democracy that has been attacked. Putting them on the same level is not diplomacy; it is criminal weakness.