France Le Pen: No French weapons against targets in Russia

If her right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National (RN) wins the parliamentary elections, Marine Le Pen wants to prevent Ukraine from attacking targets in Russia with French long-range weapons. An RN prime minister would also ensure that French troops would not be stationed in Ukraine under any circumstances, she told CNN, reiterating her party's previous positions.

RN leader Jordan Bardella had previously stated that Ukraine must be able to defend itself against the Russian war of aggression. However, he is against any equipment that could escalate the situation and does not want to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles and weapons that could be used to hit Russian territory.

French President Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, is relying on strategic ambiguity in the defense of Ukraine and does not want to rule out the deployment of Western ground troops in the attacked country per se.

Le Pen's party was ahead in the first round of voting

The right-wing nationalists hope to win an absolute majority in the decisive round of the new parliamentary elections on Sunday and appoint the prime minister. As in the European elections, they were ahead in the first round of voting, followed by the new left-wing alliance and Macron's centrist camp in third place. According to the latest polls, however, the RN could miss out on an absolute majority.

In France, it is not the prime minister but the president who determines the broad lines of foreign policy. The president is also the head of the army. Nevertheless, he is dependent on a majority in the National Assembly for his policies, not least when it comes to the budget.

SDA