The head of the National Rally was able to speak with the Ukrainian president, present in Belgium this Thursday to present “a victory plan” for kyiv. The gesture aims in particular to forget the privileged relations that the party maintained with Russia before the start of the war in Ukraine.
A very symbolic photo. Jordan Bardella appears on his X account (formerly Twitter) shaking hands with Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the European Council this Thursday, October 17.
“Since February 24, 2022, the date of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he has been fighting for the territorial integrity of his country and the freedom of its people,” writes the president of the National Rally.
Russian support in the middle of the legislative campaign
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his “victory plan” to Brussels, insisting that his country, in difficulty on the battlefield, must be in a position of strength before any negotiations.
This handshake between the two men is all the stronger as the National Rally was for a time close to Vladimir Putin before backpedaling after the invasion of Ukraine.
Last July, however, Russia gave its support to Jordan Bardella before the second round of the legislative elections, to the great dismay of the party in the flame. In the middle of the campaign, Jordan Bardella repeatedly reiterated his support for Ukraine while calling for an escalation with Russia to be avoided.
From “admiration” to crossing the “red line”
The RN has profoundly evolved its relations with Moscow since the start of the conflict. Marine Le Pen met at length with Vladimir Putin in March 2017 in the middle of the presidential campaign. The MP also confided in 2011 her “admiration” for the Russian head of state.
A few days after the Ukrainian invasion, the candidate estimated on BFMTV that the Russian had “crossed the red line”. In the middle of the debate between the two rounds in 2022, Emmanuel Macron judged that it “depended on Russian power” after the granting of a loan taken out by the RN in 2014.
Before a commission of inquiry into foreign interference in May 2023, the president of the RN deputies accused the head of state of “slander”. In a contested report, the commission of inquiry accused Jordan Bardella’s movement of being “the vector” of Russian influence in France. Marine Le Pen denounced “a dishonest report”.
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