France comments on possibility of allowing Ukraine to carry out long-range strike into Russia

France commented on its readiness to grant Ukraine permission for long-range strikes deep into Russian territory.

According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, in May, President Emmanuel Macron suggested that France was willing to explore extending such authorisation to Ukraine.

"We openly said that this is an option that we will consider if it allows for strikes at targets from where Russia is currently carrying out aggressive attacks on Ukrainian territory," Barrot said.

According to him, Paris's position has not changed since then.

On the evening of 17 November, The New York Times reported that US President Joe Biden had, for the first time, authorised Ukrainian forces to use long-range ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory.

According to the Axios portal, the White House's decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory with US long-range missiles applies exclusively to Kursk Oblast of Russia and is intended as a reaction to the involvement of North Korean troops in the war.

Commenting on these reports, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasised Ukraine's right to self-defence.