French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon says Russia is not France’s enemy and warns against becoming a co-belligerent

French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon said Russia should not be regarded as France’s enemy and argued that Paris must avoid actions that could make it a co-belligerent in the war in Ukraine.

Asked directly whether Russia was France’s enemy, Mélenchon replied: “No.” He said Russians had historically been France’s allies when the country was invaded, while adding that France would respond if Russia itself attacked.

“No war with the Russians,” he said. “Obviously, if they attacked us, we would respond, because that’s how it works. But let us do nothing that would turn us into a co-belligerent against the Russians.”

Mélenchon questioned warnings that Moscow could threaten Western Europe, pointing to Russia’s prolonged war in Ukraine. He nevertheless said France should maintain its nuclear deterrent until serious negotiations on eliminating nuclear weapons begin and the states possessing the largest arsenals take action.

In broader remarks about France’s political climate, the La France Insoumise leader said several ingredients associated with a “revolutionary situation” were present, although he stopped short of predicting one. He described France as a historically “restless” and politically constructed nation, contrasting it with Germany and noting that many people in revolutionary-era France did not speak French.

Mélenchon also defended his own political rhetoric, saying it could be divisive but contained “no hatred,” and stressed that he was not racist.

Discussing European history, he argued that the Crusades brought comparatively backward European societies into contact with more advanced civilizations in the East and said European humanism also had intellectual roots in the Islamic world.

On social and generational change, Mélenchon said men were often raised to suppress emotion and should become more open to sentimentality. He also said younger generations were increasingly instructing their elders on issues such as the environment, crediting his daughter with helping turn him into an environmentalist.