How France’s presidential election could impact Ukraine war

PARIS (AP) — The capital of France may be thousands of miles away from the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, but what happens in French voting stations this month could have repercussions there. Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has close ties to Russia and wants to weaken the European Union and NATO. That could undercut Western efforts to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine. Le Pen is trying to unseat centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who has a slim lead in polls ahead of France’s April 24 presidential runoff election. Macron’s government has sent 100 million euros ($109 million) worth of weaponry to Ukraine in recent weeks and said it will send more. Le Pen, however, expressed reservations Wednesday about supplying Ukraine with additional arms.