This weekend France has belatedly made clear that it has joined allies Britain and US in authorizing Ukraine to use long-range missile for strikes on targets in Russian territory.
The past week has witnessed significant escalation after Ukraine used both UK-made Storm Shadow missiles and US-supplied ATACMS in at least two separate cross-border assaults. And now:
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the BBC that Ukraine can shoot French longer-range missiles into Russia in the “logics of self-defense.” The French Scalp missiles are the same as the UK’s Storm Shadow missiles, which Ukraine had already used in attacks on Russia.
“The principle has been set… our messages to President Zelensky have been well received,” he said in the Saturday interview, however without disclosing whether French Scalp missiles have already been used in such a way.
He argued that the Western allies should not put any limits on supporting Ukraine’s effort fighting back Russia. He called for the West to “not set and express red lines.“
After saying this, he was then pressed by interviewer Laura Kuenssberg over if that could even mean sending French troops into the war. “We do not discard any option,” he responded.
