France greenlights Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia
Paris places no “red lines” on its support for Kiev, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has said | French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has said that Ukraine may use French missiles to attack targets in internationally-recognized Russian territory, without confirming whether such strikes have already taken place. ■ In an interview due to be broadcast by British state broadcaster the BBC on Sunday, Barrot said that Paris does “not set and express red lines” on its support for Kiev, and that long-range strikes on Russian soil may be carried out by Ukraine “in the logics of self-defense.” ■ France has provided Ukraine with an unknown number of SCALP-EG cruise missiles, which Kiev has already been using to attack targets in Crimea and the four former Ukrainian regions that joined the Russian Federation in 2022. The SCALP-EG, known as the Storm Shadow in the UK, is an air-launched British-French cruise missile with a maximum range of 550km (390 miles). ■ Barrot’s comments came a day after the Ukrainian military confirmed that Storm Shadow missiles were used for the first time in an attack on Russia’s Kursk Region, where Ukrainian troops launched a cross-border invasion in August. Russian air defenses shot down two of the British missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry said.