Ukrainian and EU officials are preparing what they fear could be the final round of sanctions to hit Russia before the French presidential elections in April.

Kyiv and Brussels are wargaming contingency measures in case Marine Le Pen becomes the French president and weakens support for Ukraine.

A source involved in the discussions said February could be the “last opportunity [to impose sanctions] because of the French elections”.

Ms Le Pen, the favourite to take the Élysée, wants to end European sanctions on Russia and stop Ukraine from joining the EU, which she calls economic “hara-kiri” (suicide).

“We were right to say that sanctions would have had no impact on Russia,” the hard-Right candidate said in Brussels last week. The EU has imposed 22 rounds of sanctions on the Kremlin since the invasion of Ukraine.

Each required the unanimous support of all 27 EU member states, giving each country an effective veto on the measures.

The last round was approved on Oct 12, adding 1,600 Russian individuals and organisations to a list of almost 4,600.

EU officials told The Telegraph that they would be “lucky” to secure another round after February, when French campaigning reaches its peak.

Ukraine is scrambling to make as much progress as possible towards EU membership before Ms Le Pen can take power, and wants other capitals to help.

Joining the EU is a long and difficult process that can easily take a decade. It requires painful reforms and many member states will want guarantees that Kyiv is fighting corruption before it is allowed to join, which will not happen during wartime.

Volodymyr Zelensky, pictured with Ursula von der Leyen, is pushing to advance Ukraine’s bid for EU membership Securing closed-door negotiation “clusters” with the European Commission is seen as vital, as Ms Le Pen could take control of France and oppose further progress.

Vsevolod Chentsov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, told The Telegraph: “We are not asking for shortcuts. But what we are asking for is an understanding and appreciation by member states of the geopolitical momentum.”Kyiv is also preparing a “membership manifesto” to convince Ms Le Pen that Ukraine can help Europe counter Russia’s hybrid war with a playbook developed over years of conflict with Moscow.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure amid a major rift between Kyiv and Washington“You don’t need to send tanks or hit the capitals with ballistic missiles to create political or social crisis or technological disaster, and unfortunately, Russia is building up its capacities and using Ukraine as a training ground,” Mr Chentsov said.

“Yes, reforms, legislation, stability of institutions are a necessary criteria to enter the EU. But also there should be an understanding that by supporting Ukraine, and investing in the broader sense of Ukraine, the EU is investing in its own security.”

He added: “This is a very unusual situation that the incoming member can already now help with a lot of expertise and reinforce the union.”“Madame Le Pen is not deeply (familiar) with some details,” Volodymyr Zelensky said last week as he described the defence cooperation as a “win-win”.