French far-right leader Marine Le Pen in Moscow amid Ukraine tensions

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Front party, walks after leaving the building of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in central Moscow, Russia, May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

MOSCOW (Reuters) - French far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen met a senior Russian official in Moscow on Tuesday, underlining her party's regular ties with the Kremlin despite East-West tensions smouldering over Ukraine.

Le Pen, whose anti-immigrant, euro-sceptic party previously secured a major loan from a Russian-owned bank, has fiercely criticised the West's policy towards Russia over the conflict in Ukraine as overly hostile to Moscow.