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France and Germany say Ukraine should be able to use their weapons to strike inside Russia

France and Germany said Tuesday that Ukraine should be allowed to use their weapons against targets inside Russia from which Moscow attacks Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron outlined that French weapons sent to Ukraine, including long-range missiles, were permitted to target bases inside Russia.

“Ukrainian soil is being attacked from bases in Russia,” Macron said during his visit to Schloss Meseberg in Brandenburg, Germany. “So how do we explain to the Ukrainians that we’re going to have to protect these towns and basically everything we’re seeing around Kharkiv at the moment, if we tell them you are not allowed to hit the point from which the missiles are fired?”

“We think that we should allow them to neutralize the military sites from which the missiles are fired and, basically, the military sites from which Ukraine is attacked,” Macron continued.

Macron added, however, that “we must not allow them to hit other targets in Russia,” including civilian or other military targets.

Germany’s Scholz echoed Macron’s comments and said that Ukraine was allowed to defend itself as long as it respected the conditions given by the countries that supplied the weapons – including the United States – and international law.

“Ukraine has every possibility under international law for what it is doing. That has to be said explicitly,” Scholz said. “I find it strange when some people argue that it should not be allowed to defend itself and take measures that are suitable for this.”

Western allies of Ukraine have long held the policy that donated weapons should be strictly limited to usage inside Ukrainian territory. The issue is a controversial one, with fears from Western leaders that if their weaponry is used to strike inside Russia, it would escalate the violence and trigger a wider war involving NATO.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked permission from his allies to expand the usage of the provided weapons to strike inside Russia.

The United States, the largest arms supplier to Ukraine, has previously forbidden Kyiv from firing its weapons inside Russian territory over escalation concerns.

However, in comments that appeared to hint at the possibility of a change in policy, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the US would continue to “adapt and adjust” its support for Ukraine.

“Another hallmark of our support for Ukraine over the last two years has been to adapt as the conditions have changed. Battlefields change. As what Russia does has changed in terms of how it is pursuing its aggression escalation, we’ve adapted and adjusted too. And I am confident we will continue to do that,” he said when asked about the possibility of allowing Ukraine to strike Russian soil.

But Blinken also reiterated that at present the US has not enabled Ukraine to strike beyond its borders into Russia with US weaponry.

“We haven’t encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine. Ukraine, as I’ve said before, has to make its own decisions about the best way to effectively defend itself. We’re going to make sure that it has the equipment that it needs to do that,” Blinken said.

When pressed on his remarks about adjusting and adapting, he added, “We’re always listening. We’re always learning, and we’re always making determinations about what’s necessary to make sure that Ukraine can effectively continue to defend itself.”

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