When La France Insoumise and the RN speak like the Kremlin
- Collectif Pour l'Ukraine, pour leur liberté et la nôtre !
- Sep 18
- 4 min read
Opinion piece published in Ouest-France on September 18, 2025 under the title " When LFI and the RN speak like the Kremlin "
Within a few days of each other, three political leaders made disturbingly similar remarks about the war in Ukraine.
1. " Zelensky cannot sign the peace agreement because it is illegitimate " (Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, 24.8.25);
2. " Zelensky's presidential term ended in May 2024 " (Thierry Mariani, RN MEP and RN candidate in the Paris by-election, 27.8.25)";
3. " Zelenski's departure is the condition of the agreement. Quite simply because his mandate is over " (Jean-Luc Melenchon, La France Insoumise, 14.8.25).
These curiously simultaneous statements could have come from the same man. The synchronisation between political actors who claim to be opposed clearly marks the convergence of European extremists with Kremlin propaganda.
The common thread running through these claims concerns the legitimacy of Volodymyr Zelensky. Demanding his "departure" as a "condition for the agreement" literally echoes Putin's plan: to achieve regime change in Kyiv. Yet this position feigns ignorance of several basic facts. Indeed, the Ukrainian Constitution prohibits holding elections under martial law. Furthermore, Zelensky retains massive popular support: 77% of Ukrainians continue to trust him, according to the latest independent polls. Curiously, the legitimacy of Vladimir Putin—president for 25 years, poisoner of opponents, organizer of rigged elections—doesn't seem to pose a problem for the representatives of La France Insoumise and the National Rally!
Mélenchon and Mariani are taking disinformation to extremes: both denounce the banning of "unions and opposition parties," when in fact only explicitly pro-Russian parties have been suspended, with the democratic opposition continuing to operate. Jean-Luc Mélenchon even claims that European leaders "accepted the scenario of NATO annexation of Ukraine and Georgia in Budapest in 2008." However, the historical reality is precisely the opposite! Under pressure from Germany and France, NATO refused to grant the Accession Action Plan to these countries, which is precisely what encouraged Putin to invade Georgia four months later.
But the most revealing point remains the conclusion of Mélenchon's blog: " A government of defiance will have a free hand to undertake something completely different, in a completely different way, so that France can deploy its offer of non-alignment and alter-globalization. A completely different Europe may be in sight. "
This “completely different Europe” therefore requires abandoning Ukraine and accepting the Russian fait accompli. However, giving in to Putin would amount to granting carte blanche to all authoritarian regimes: if aggression is successful in Europe, why would China deprive itself of Taiwan? Mélenchon’s “non-alignment” bears a striking resemblance to alignment with the axis linking Moscow, Beijing, Pyongyang, and Tehran. La France Insoumise thus joins the European far right and the proponents of a “multipolar world,” a euphemism for a world where might makes right.
Faced with Russian aggression, there is no "third way": abandoning Ukraine would spell the death of the European project. This is precisely what Europe's enemies want, whether they sit in Moscow, the European Parliament, or... the French National Assembly.
Signatories
Opinion piece submitted by:
Galia Ackerman , historian, editor-in-chief of Desk Russia
André Gattolin , academic, former senator
Jean-Paul Lefebvre, municipal councillor (DVG) of Noisy-le-Sec, administrator of For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!
André Markowicz, translator
Véronique Nahoum-Grappe, anthropologist
Alexis Nuselovici, Professor Emeritus of Universities
Pierre Raiman, historian, Vice-President of For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!
Sylvie Rollet, Professor Emeritus, President of For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!
Initial signatories
Gilles Antonowicz , Honorary Lawyer, Historian
Andreas Bikfalvi, Professor Emeritus
Bernard Bruneteau, Professor Emeritus
Alain Champseix , honorary professor, agrégé in philosophy
Gilles Chevalier , Inspector General of the Armed Forces (2S)
Yan Ciret , writer, exhibition curator, producer at Radio France
Marie Collins , actress, Belgium
Didier Coureau , Professor of Film Studies, University of Grenoble Alpes
Dominique Crevecoeur , filmmaker
Ana Dumitran , historian, Romania
Barbara Essaïan , easel painting restorer and conservator
Hélène Funck-Dloussky , retired international civil servant
Jean-Yves Guérin , Professor Emeritus of French Literature at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University
André Klarfseld , Deputy Secretary of For Ukraine, For Their Freedom and Ours
André Lange , academic, retired employee of a European public organization
Sébastien Lebret , Public Square 13
Philippe Le Roux, co-regional coordinator for Public Square Centre-Val de Loire
Paul Lequesne , literary translator
Sylvie Lindeperg , historian, professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Isabelle Macor-Filarska , literary translator and researcher specializing in the Slavic world and the West
Anne Marleix , President of Terra Project
Vittoria Massimiani , literary and publishing translator, creator and producer of Italian or bilingual books and publications
Jean-Philippe Moinet , Author (novels, essays), founder of the Civic Review
Elena Pasca, philosopher, Romania
Michel Perrin , Professor Emeritus, University of Picardy Jules Verne
Alain Rabatel, Professor Emeritus of Language Sciences, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1
Bertrand Redonnet, writer
Antoine Sabbagh , historian
Pierre Schapira , Professor Emeritus, Sorbonne University
Claude Simon , Professor Emeritus, ESCP Business School
Wiktor Stoczkowski , Director of Studies at EHESS
Dominique Varma , author/screenwriter/director
Associations
Oleksandra Bertin , president of the Ukraine Friendship Association
Annick Bilobran Karmazyn , president of Advule
Philippe Candelon, President of the ALERTES.ME association
Mykola Cuzin , Chairman of the Ukraine 33 Committee
Henri David, President of ARASFEC UNITED FOR UKRAINE
Florent Murer, president of the Kalyna Association
Jean-Pierre Pasternak, President of the Union of Ukrainians in France
Svitlana Poix, President of the Ukrainian House Association , Mérignac-Bordeaux Métropole
Yes Quintal, Association etm46
Christina Smoliy , president of the UKRAÏNKA association
