Le Pen offers to meet Zelensky in Brussels after aid threat

Marine Le Pen said on Friday, Nov. 13, that she is prepared to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels, weeks after threatening to end French financial assistance to Kyiv if she is elected president.

Asked whether she would agree to a first face-to-face meeting with Zelensky, Le Pen told AFP: "Yes, if I can meet him in Brussels."

She said the location would be appropriate because "the issue of funding for Ukraine is a question that is currently shaking Europe".

Le Pen, who is leading polls in France's upcoming presidential election, previously pledged to halt financial assistance to Ukraine six months after taking office. She told Belgian broadcaster VRT that she would maintain aid for six months, but that "financial aid would halt because we don't have the money" after that period.

Zelensky pushed back against her position last month, stressing that Ukraine and France maintain "win-win" defense cooperation.

France remains one of Ukraine's strongest military supporters in its defense against Russia's full-scale invasion and backs continued EU financial assistance to Kyiv. Le Pen's offer comes as European governments debate long-term funding for Ukraine and the continent's role in negotiations to end Russia's war.