Russia has no plans to meddle in French vote, Putin tells Le Pen

Vladimir Putin has received Marine Le Pen in the Kremlin, in a surprise move likely to reignite fears in Europe about Russian support for the European far right.

Putin told Le Pen that Russia had no intention of meddling in the French presidential elections, though the meeting is likely send the opposite message.

‘‘We do not want to influence events in any way, but we retain the right to meet with all the different political forces, just like our European and American partners do,’’ Putin said.

Le Pen travelled to Moscow at the invitation of a Russian MP for meetings in the Russian parliament, to and had not been expected to meet Putin.

Speaking after their meeting, Le Pen said Putin represented ‘‘a sovereign nation’’ and ‘‘new vision’’.

‘‘A new world has emerged in the past years. This is Vladimir Putin’s world, Donald Trump’s world in the United States, Mr [Narendra] Modi’s world in India,’’ she said. ‘‘I think I am probably the one who shares with all these great nations a vision of cooperation and not one of subservience – a hawkish vision that has too often been expressed by the European Union.’’

Le Pen has publicly backed the Russian annexation of Crimea and frequently expressed admiration for Putin .

A Russian hackers’ collective has released emails appearing to show that Le Pen received a loan from a Russian bank in 2014 in return for taking pro-Moscow positions in public. Le Pen has denied the allegations, but makes no secret of the fact that the FN has taken out loans from foreign banks because French financial institutions refuse to fund her presidential campaign.