The EU is working quickly to prepare sanctions on Russia before French presidential elections that could see eurosceptic Marine Le Pen enter the Élysée Palace, according to a report.

Le Pen is the leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN), and the current favourite to win France’s presidential election next year. She has declared that she would end support for Ukraine within six months if she is elected in the April 2027 contest.

February may present the “last opportunity [to impose sanctions] because of the French elections”, one source involved in the EU discussions told The Telegraph. Officials told the outlet Brussels would be “lucky” to secure sanctions after February as France enters campaign mode.

A victory for Le Pen – who is looking to replace incumbent Emmanuel Macron, but faces a battle from France’s left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon – would spell trouble for Europe’s response to Ukraine.

“To deal honestly with [Ukraine’s President Volodymyr] Zelensky is to tell him, in fact to warn him: listen, we cannot do more,” Le Pen told the Financial Times earlier this week. “We have already provided loans totaling €90 billion (£75.9bn), of which €18 billion (£15.1bn) falls to France. That is a truly large sum.”

Discussing Russian sanctions, Le Pen said in Brussels that her allies were “right to say that sanctions would have had no impact on Russia”.

She also said on Wednesday that France cannot keep financing Ukraine due to the “perilous” state of the euro zone’s second-biggest economy.

“We can no longer finance Ukraine,” she said, adding that “France today is in an extremely perilous situation”, referring to the country’s high deficit and weak economic growth.

Europe has so far imposed 22 rounds of sanctions on Russia since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022. On Monday, sanctions were imposed on almost 1,600 Russian people and companies linked to Russia’s arms industry, in the biggest single listing of sanctions since the Kremlin launched full-scale war.

A victory Le Pen, however, could also see France cut its contribution to the overall EU budget. The bloc is working to push through a seven-year budget before the French presidential elections. Le Pen told the FT the move was “deeply objectionable”.

The EU Commission has proposed a budget for 2028-2034 that is worth nearly €2 trillion, well beyond the roughly €1.2 trillion budget during the 2021-2027 period.

Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden want to cut several hundred billion euros from the budget, but France has hit out at these calls, with Mr Macron declaring that the bloc needs an “ambitious” budget.

Le Pen has vowed a “trial of strength” with Brussels if the budget is approved.

“In fact, I think it reveals the contempt the Commission has for democratic processes in Europe,” she said, although accepted that her promise to cut France’s contribution to the EU budget would be difficult.

“We know there will be a tough debate, even a trial of strength. But we have the will and the conviction that we will be able to do it.”