 France had been one of the earliest supporters of Finland during the Winter War . The French saw an opportunity to weaken Germany 's major ally if the Finns were to attack the Soviet Union . France had other motives as well , because it preferred to have a major war in a remote part of Europe over one on French soil . France planned to re ‑ arm the Polish exile units and transport them to the Finnish Arctic port of Petsamo . Another scheme was to execute a massive air strike with Turkish cooperation against the Caucasus oil fields . 
