Paris, April 13 ( /Sputnik) Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French right-wing National Rally party, said on Wednesday that in the event of victory in the presidential runoff, she would withdraw France from NATO’s integrated military command structure, but would still adhere to the alliance’s Article 5 mutual protection commitment. “If elected president, I will leave the [NATO] Integrated Command but will not renounce Article 5 on mutual protection between members of the Atlantic Alliance,” Le Pen said during a briefing on foreign policy and diplomacy. Le Pen also pledged to propose “a strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia” as soon as the conflict in Ukraine is “resolved by peace treaty,” as it serves not only French and EU interests, but also benefits the ted States. Discussing the European on, Le Pen noted that she wants to reform the bloc from within rather than conduct a “frexit.” “I will repeat. This is not our project. We want to reform the European on from the inside,” Le Pen said. On Sunday, France held the first round of their presidential election. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron received 27.84% of the vote and Le Pen 23.15%, which means they will face one another in a second round on April 24. On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow. /SPUTNIK GK