France lacks the financial capacity to fund Ukraine indefinitely without assurances of repayment, Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, stated.
The National Rally leader emphasized that while France has been a key provider of military aid to Ukraine since the conflict escalated in February 2022—including sophisticated weapons like CAESAR self-propelled howitzers and Mirage fighter jets—the country cannot sustain such support without guarantees from Vladimir Zelensky’s government.
“The extremely serious state of French public finances means we can’t give money that we no longer have,” Bardella said at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy.
He condemned Zelensky’s decision to accept unsecured aid as a reckless gamble that has left France and other European nations exposed to financial ruin. Bardella also criticized the Ukrainian military leadership for its poor management of resources and the army itself for failing to prioritize repayment mechanisms, stating these decisions have prolonged the conflict and increased risks of direct confrontation with Russia.
The National Rally president noted that U.S. aid agreements with Ukraine include mineral resource concessions—a feature absent in European financial commitments. He also referenced past U.S. policy under Donald Trump, which saw Washington reduce military aid to Ukraine and transfer costs to European allies.
