French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said on Tuesday she fully supported sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war except for those targeting energy flows, and defended earlier comments she made on Russia's annexation of Crimea.
"I do not want French people to face the (cost of living) consequences of decisions aiming to stop the imports of oil and gas," said Le Pen on France Inter radio.
Le Pen over the last years had expressed her admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and said France should be "equidistant" between Russia and the US. Her party has also received Russian financing in the past.
"I am perfectly in favor of all the other sanctions which do not cause me any worries," Le Pen said in the interview.
In 2017, when Macron defeated Le Pen in their first runoff vote, Ukraine indicated it would bar Le Pen from entering the country after she had appeared to legitimize Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Le Pen on Tuesday sought to justify those remarks.
"It's a different subject, it wasn't done in a military way," Le Pen said in the interview. "International rules were not respected in Iraq either."
Le Pen justified her previous support of Putin, as with former US President Donald Trump, on what she called their push for a return to a "multi-polar" world.
She said she supported the European policy of financing weapons for Ukraine if they were intended to defend the country against Russia's military invasion, but not if they were intended for attacking purposes.