Le Pen Says Russia's Victory in War Would Be Disaster, Ukraine's Victory Would Mean WWIII

Marine Le Pen, chair of the French National Assembly Group for the far-right Rassemblement National [National Rally] party, believes that the best way out of the war would be immediate negotiations, as neither a Russian nor a Ukrainian victory would be beneficial for the world.

Le Pen has for years been the French politician most closely aligned to Putin’s Russia. Her party received a €9 million loan from a Russian bank in 2014 and she has declared that she shared Putin’s global vision. After the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, she distanced herself from Putin and now declares the following: "I believe in the sovereignty of nations: if Ukraine wants to join NATO, if it is their will, I don’t see who can oppose it," Le Pen said in an interview with El Pais.

"When a nation like Russia attacks another nation and threatens its sovereignty, there is no possible equidistance, you have to take a stand," she adds, speaking in support of sending defensive weapons to Ukraine, yet opposing the supply of offensive ones.

According to Le Pen, the best solution to the conflict would be immediate negotiations. 

"If Russia wins the war, it will be catastrophic because all countries with a territorial conflict will think that they can solve it with weapons," Le Pen said.

"If Ukraine wins, it will mean that NATO has entered the war, because I am convinced that Ukraine, without the power of NATO, cannot militarily defeat Russia. And this means that World War III has been unleashed," she added.

She also has a third option. "If we continue to slowly deliver weapons to Ukraine, as we are doing now, then we are facing a new Hundred Years’ War [a long-running mediaeval conflict between England and France], which, considering the human losses, is a terrible drama," Le Pen said.

The poll found the growth of Le Pen’s popularity has risen to a maximum level amid protests against unpopular pension reforms and a drop in the ratings of president Emmanuel Macron and the incumbent government.