Macron asks Ukraine for green light to strike targets in Russia with Western weapons

By the associated press

Western countries should let Ukraine strike military bases in Russia with the sophisticated long-range weapons they supply to kyiv, French President Emmanuel Macron said, putting pressure on his allies in the latest sign of change potentially important policy that could help change the face of Russia. the war.

Whether to allow Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil with Western-supplied weapons has been a delicate issue since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

Western leaders have mostly been reluctant to take the step because it risks provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly warned that direct Western involvement could put the world on a path to nuclear conflict .

But the war has recently turned Russia's way, with Kremlin forces exploiting Ukraine's lack of troops and munitions after a long delay in US military aid and insufficient military production. Western Europe that slowed crucial deliveries to the battlefield.

Russian missiles and bombs hit Ukrainian military positions and civilian areas, including the power grid. kyiv faces its toughest test of the war, and unloading long-range weapons could trigger a response and upend the Kremlin.

Macron said France's position is: “We think we must allow (Ukraine) to neutralize the (Russian) military sites from which the missiles are fired.”

“If we tell (the Ukrainians) that you do not have the right to reach the point where the missiles are fired, we are in effect telling them that we are supplying you with weapons but you cannot defend yourself,” Macron said Tuesday evening. an official visit to Germany.

His remarks came a day after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged alliance members to lift some restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western weapons.

“The right of self-defense includes striking legitimate targets outside Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said at a NATO meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Monday.

Already at the beginning of May, Moscow had interpreted as a threat British Foreign Minister David Cameron's comment that Ukraine could use long-range British weapons, such as the Storm Shadow cruise missile, to retaliate against Russia.

That, along with Macron's comments that he is not ruling out sending troops to Ukraine, prompted Russia to announce it would hold exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons. Russia also warned London that its decision could lead to reprisals against British military installations and equipment on Ukrainian soil or elsewhere.

Leaders choose their words carefully. Macron stressed that only Russian bases used to launch missiles against Ukraine should be considered legitimate targets, not other Russian bases or civilian infrastructure.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking alongside Macron, was, as usual, more reserved and more evasive, emphasizing that under international law, Ukraine “is authorized to defend itself.”

Scholz insisted on avoiding steps that could end up drawing NATO into a battlefield confrontation with Russia. Other Western leaders have expressed similar fears of a creeping, high-stakes escalation.

His concerns are shared in Washington. Over the past two years, the United States has gradually given in to Ukrainian requests for support, sending tanks and long-range missile systems that it was initially reluctant to provide, but with a reservation about targeting Russian soil.

“There is no change in our policy at this point,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday. “We do not encourage or authorize the use of U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia.”

Western leaders want to put pressure on Putin, whose forces have recently led a heavy push against Ukrainian defenses in eastern and northeastern Ukraine.

This week brought a cascade of new European aid, with Belgium and Spain each committing around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in new military support to Ukraine. Sweden announced on Wednesday that it would provide aid worth 13 billion crowns ($1.23 billion), the largest amount Sweden has given so far. It will include air defense systems, artillery munitions and armored vehicles.

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