Le Pen Says France Cannot Afford to Fund Ukraine Amid Financial Strain

Marine Le Pen, who heads the National Rally party's parliamentary faction in France, said that her country cannot afford to continue funding Ukraine because of its financial situation, according to a report by the Russian state news agency TASS.

TASS quoted Le Pen as saying that France's "historic role" is instead to "create conditions that facilitate peace," rather than continuing to provide financial support for Kyiv.

The remarks were attributed to Le Pen in the TASS report, though the outlet did not specify the date, venue or context in which the comments were made, nor did it provide additional details on the scale of French financial support for Ukraine that Le Pen referenced.

National Rally, the party led by Le Pen, has previously expressed skepticism toward extensive Western military and financial assistance to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. The party has also called for a diplomatic resolution to the war.

The TASS report did not include a response from the French government or other French political figures to Le Pen's comments. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the full context of her remarks.

France has been among the countries providing financial and military support to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, though the exact scope of that support amid the country's broader budgetary constraints was not detailed in the report.