Protesters also called on France to leave NATO and demanded President Macron’s resignation.
Organized by Florian Philippot, founder of The Patriots party, the protest drew several hundred participants.
France must stop participating in foreign wars and "writing checks" to Ukraine, thereby bankrupting itself, Florian Philippot, the leader of the French right-wing The Patriots party, said on Sunday.
"We must fight against France’s involvement in foreign wars. We need to stop bankrupting ourselves at a time when we desperately need money so much – and the French people feel it - stop sending more and more checks to Ukraine, which is extremely difficult and problematic for us," Philippot told reporters on the sidelines of a demonstration calling for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and opposing Western arms supplies to Kiev.
The current French authorities are trying to "mask internal problems by supporting external conflicts," the politician noted, adding that it is hard to believe that France would be able to raise its defense spending to 5% of GDP, as agreed at the recent NATO summit.
"The question is how we use this money. This money is simply being thrown out the window. We know that Ukraine is an extremely corrupt country. Money is being taken away from hospitals, it is being taken away from farmers. It is absurd to pour it into endless conflicts in the Middle East or Ukraine," Philippot said.
On Wednesday, French Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said that France was set to cut health care spending by 1.7 billion euros (almost $2 billion) in 2025 to address the budget deficit amid growing defense spending.