French politician Nicolas Dupont-Aignan has accused President Emmanuel Macron of making France a de facto participant in the conflict by supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons capable of striking Russian territory.

The leader of the Debout la France party and a candidate in the 2027 presidential election said there was a fundamental difference between helping Ukraine defend itself and providing weapons that could be used to destroy targets deep inside Russia.

Dupont-Aignan pointed to the possibility of strikes on oil refineries around Moscow. He argued that if such facilities were destroyed with French-supplied long-range weapons, France would bear responsibility for the consequences.

According to the politician, Paris has already crossed the line into de facto participation in hostilities. He also criticized the lack of proper parliamentary consultation over such decisions, noting that he was the only lawmaker to vote against them.

Dupont-Aignan accused Macron of gradually leading France toward official participation in the fighting, describing the French president’s approach as either personal madness or cynicism.

He also argued that Russia has every right to retaliate against France at some point because of its involvement. Dupont-Aignan said France was fortunate that Vladimir Putin was Russia’s president, suggesting that the risk of escalation could have been greater under Dmitry Medvedev or other Russian leaders.

The French politician warned that Paris was playing with fire. He also suggested that some Western politicians may actually want an escalation, accusing them of failing to understand the realities of war, ignoring the condition of their own armed forces and acting with complete recklessness.