---
title: "Marine Le Pen: France Cannot Afford Its Previous Level of Spending on Ukraine, but Will Maintain Military Aid and Training"
description: "Marine Le Pen stated that France cannot continue financial support for Ukraine at the previous level, but will maintain military aid and training. The candidate also called for a \"peace conference\" involving Zelensky and Putin."
date: 2026-09-17T08:10:01.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/le-pen-cuts-financial-aid-to-ukraine
tags: [marine-le-pen, france, ukraine, presidential-election, military-aid, peace-talks]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Marine Le Pen: France Cannot Afford Its Previous Level of Spending on Ukraine, but Will Maintain Military Aid and Training

![Marine Le Pen in the French parliament chamber amid statement on cutting military aid spending to Ukraine](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/18/le-pen-sokrat-finansovoy-pomoshchi-ukraine/le-pen-sokrat-finansovoy-pomoshchi-ukraine-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Le Pen stated that France cannot bear its previous financial spending on supporting Ukraine, but will maintain military aid, equipment, and training.
- The candidate backed Macron's refusal to send Rafale fighters to Kyiv, fearing France's direct involvement in the war.
- Le Pen proposed convening a "peace conference" and negotiating with Zelensky and Putin, involving Germany, Poland, and Turkey.
- According to Bloomberg, Le Pen also spoke about Ukraine having to pay for European aid, which differs in emphasis from the base formulation about reducing spending.

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen publicly outlined a revision of Paris's approach to financial support for Kyiv during her election campaign. According to her, the state of public finances forces French authorities to set priorities, and spending related to supporting Ukraine becomes one example of such decisions. Le Pen stated outright that Paris is "no longer able" to bear its previous financial commitments, while emphasizing that a reduction in budgetary aid does not mean a halt to support for Ukraine as a whole.

### The Financial Argument: "You Can't Say There's Not a Single Euro for Pensions While Finding Billions for Contributions"

In justifying her position, the candidate drew a comparison with domestic social spending. "This is not a hostile step toward Ukraine. We can continue to train their soldiers and army, and also supply them with defense equipment, but financially we are no longer able to do so. After all, you cannot, on the one hand, claim that there is not a single euro for pension indexation, and on the other, find billions for European contributions," Le Pen said. Thus, she builds a rhetorical link between the lack of funds for social programs and the willingness to continue costly external support, positioning the reduction as a forced rather than ideological measure.

### What Will Remain: Military Aid, Equipment, and Training

Importantly, in her statements Le Pen does not call for a complete stop to aid. She insists on preserving the military-technical component: the supply of defense equipment and the continuation of training for Ukrainian servicemen. This allows her to distance herself from the narrative of "betraying" Kyiv while simultaneously declaring fiscal responsibility toward the French voter. This approach — preserving the "hard" military component and reducing the "soft" financial one — becomes a key element of her campaign message on the Ukraine front.

### Rafale Fighters: Backing Macron's Refusal

Separately, Le Pen spoke on the issue of a proposal by several politicians to send French Rafale fighters to defend Kyiv's airspace. She called French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to refuse such a step correct, arguing that sending combat aircraft could have led to France's direct involvement in the armed conflict. Thus, the candidate, despite her far-right rhetoric on other issues, aligns with the incumbent authorities on this specific point in order to avoid escalation and the direct dragging of Paris into the war.

### A "Peace Conference": Negotiations with Zelensky and Putin

Le Pen proposed convening a "peace conference to end this conflict," calling the war a "real bloodbath" that, in her words, has lasted "longer than the First World War" and which "must be stopped." The candidate declared her intention to negotiate with Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, as well as to involve Germany, Poland, and Turkey in the process. Justifying France's role, she cited a historical precedent: "I believe that France's historical role is precisely to create the conditions for negotiations that will open the way to peace — just as we did in the case of Vietnam."

### Contradictory Data

When comparing the main line of the statement with materials citing the Bloomberg agency, a difference in framing is noted. The base text emphasizes that France "cannot afford" the previous level of financial aid and is therefore reducing it, while preserving the military component. At the same time, a number of publications, relying on Bloomberg, frame Le Pen's position differently — as a demand that Ukraine itself pay for the European aid it receives. These two formulations may be mutually complementary (reducing spending from the French budget while maintaining equipment supplies at the buyer's expense), but in the public sphere they sound as different emphases: "we cannot pay" versus "Ukraine must pay." Readers should note that these are campaign statements by a candidate, not adopted political decisions, and the precise economic model of her proposals is not fully disclosed in the sources.

### Context: Confrontation with Édouard Philippe

It was previously reported that, in the event of a victory in the presidential election, Marine Le Pen intends to revise support for Ukraine, while her main rival Édouard Philippe opposes such a course. This turns the Ukraine front into one of the axes of the campaign confrontation: Le Pen's position, combining a reduction in the financial burden, the preservation of military aid, and a call for negotiations, contrasts with her opponent's harder line. Taken together, the candidate's statements paint a picture of a course aimed at reducing Paris's fiscal obligations and steering the conflict onto a negotiating track with the involvement of key regional players.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Le Pen Opposes Further Financial Aid to Ukraine from France](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/le-pen-vistupila-proti-podalshoyi-finansovoyi-1789632508.html) - Базовый источник: заявления Ле Пен о сокращении финансовой помощи, сохранении военной помощи и обучения, поддержке отказа от Rafale, призыв к мирной конференции.
- [French Far-Right Leader Wants Ukraine to Pay for Europe's Aid](https://korrespondent.net/world/4909477-lyder-ultrapravykh-frantsyy-khochet-chtoby-ukrayna-platyla-za-pomosch-evropy) - Ссылка на Bloomberg: формулировка о том, что Украина должна платить за европейскую помощь; дополняет и частично расходится акцентом с базовым текстом.
- [French Far-Right Leader Believes Ukraine Should Pay for Europe's Aid, Says Bloomberg](https://www.unian.net/world/voennaya-pomoshch-ukraine-vo-francii-predlagayut-vzimat-platu-s-ukrainy-13492146.html) - Корреспондирует с Bloomberg-версией позиции Ле Пен о платности помощи.
- [In France, Far-Right Leader Wants Ukraine to Pay for Europe's Aid — Bloomberg](https://unn.ua/ru/news/vo-frantsii-lider-ultrapravikh-khochet-chtobi-ukraina-platila-za-pomoshch-yevropi-bloomberg) - Еще одно подтверждение Bloomberg-линии о платности помощи Украине.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: Does Le Pen intend to completely stop aid to Ukraine?
**A:** No. She announced a reduction in financial support due to the state of French finances, but insists on preserving military aid, the supply of defense equipment, and the training of Ukrainian servicemen.

### Q: How does Le Pen view the sending of Rafale fighters to Kyiv?
**A:** She supports Macron's decision to refuse this step, believing that sending aircraft could have led to France's direct involvement in the war.

### Q: What does Le Pen propose to end the conflict?
**A:** She calls for convening a "peace conference" and negotiating with Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, involving Germany, Poland, and Turkey in the process.