French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview published Saturday that Ukraine could fire French-provided long-range missiles into Russian territory following US and British authorization of such strikes.
France has provided Ukraine with its version of the British Storm Shadow missiles, known as SCALP missiles, which have a range of about 155 miles. Barrot told BBC that there are no “red lines” when it comes to France’s support of Ukraine and that Ukrainian forces could fire the missiles into Russia “in the logics of self-defense.”
“The principle has been set… our messages to President Zelensky have been well received,” Barrot said.
It’s unclear if Ukraine has yet fired French-provided SCALP missiles into Russia. Last week, Ukrainian forces used both the British Storm Shadow missiles and US-provided ATACMS, which have a range of about 190 miles, in strikes on Russian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the escalations by firing a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile into Ukraine. He also issued a stark warning, saying Russia has the right to target the military facilities of any country that’s providing Ukraine with long-range weapons for strikes on Russian territory.
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,” Putin said. “If anyone else doubts this, then they are wrong – there will always be a response.”
Putin made clear back in September that he would view NATO-supported long-range strikes as direct NATO involvement in the war and ordered changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine as a warning to the West. But President Biden ignored those warnings as his administration is looking to escalate the proxy war as much as possible before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on January 20.
