“Paris has not changed its position on strikes deep into Russia with its missiles,” – French Foreign Minister says

France has not changed its stance on the use of French missiles for strikes deep into Russian territory, but the option to lift restrictions on such strikes remains on the agenda.

This was stated by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, reported by Reuters.

“Paris’s plans regarding strikes on Russia have not changed. At the first opportunity, France will lift the restrictions for Ukraine on using French cruise missiles to strike targets from which Moscow is conducting ‘aggression’ against ‘Ukrainian territory.’ This decision was made by Macron, and it remains unchanged. You heard what President Macron said in May. At that time, it was stated that we would consider such an option regarding strikes on facilities from where the Russians are carrying out aggression against Ukrainian territory. So, nothing new on this matter,” Barrot stated upon arriving at the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.

In this way, the French foreign minister confirmed that France has not yet granted any authorization for strikes on Russia.

There have been longstanding claims that the French are ready to allow the use of SCALP cruise missiles on Russian territory, but the U.S. imposed a ban on this despite persistent requests from Macron and Zelensky. Recently, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported that France and Britain had allegedly lifted restrictions for Kyiv to strike Russia with their missiles. However, Zelensky’s hopes were premature, as it turned out that no such restrictions were lifted.

Earlier, Russian President Putin warned that lifting restrictions on strikes deep into Russia would be perceived by Moscow as direct involvement of these countries in the conflict on Ukraine’s side.