Russia is closely following the results in France "very closely" after the first round of voting, where the far-right party National Rally (RN) becomes the largest party with over 29 percent.
The French voters' preferences are more or less clear to us, says Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, reports news agency AFP.
The Russian Duma's spokesperson Vyacheslav Volodin is on the same line:
Last week, we saw (US President Joe) Biden lose the debate (against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump). And now Macron's party has lost and come in third place in the parliamentary election. The heads of state who have power are suffering major defeats, says Volodin according to AFP.
The right-wing wave sweeping across several EU countries, including France, could undermine support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
RN's leader Marine Le Pen has previously shown support for Russia by defending the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and criticizing the EU's sanctions against Russia, although she has recently distanced her party from Moscow.
I consider Russia a threat to both France and Europe, said National Rally's star Jordan Bardella at the end of June.
Bardella, who is also aspiring to become Prime Minister of France, says he wants to support Ukraine with weapons, but opposes long-range robots that can "strike directly at Russian cities".
