As of: November 24, 2024 10:12 a.m
France has no objections to Ukraine using long-range weapons against targets on Russian territory – the Foreign Minister has now confirmed this once again. The reaction from Moscow was sharp.
After the USA and Great Britain, France is also signaling Ukraine’s permission to use long-range weapons against targets on Russian territory. According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Kiev may also fire the long-range missiles supplied by Paris at Russia “in the logic of self-defense.”
However, the minister did not say whether this had actually already happened in an interview published in advance by the British broadcaster BBC. There was no mention of a formal or recently formulated permission; rather, Barrot reiterated France’s already known position.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said President Emmanuel Macron had already said in May during his state visit to Germany that Ukraine must be able to neutralize Russian military targets directly involved in operations against its territory. International law is clear: Ukraine has the right to defend itself.
France on the side of Great Britain
This week, Ukraine reportedly fired long-range US-made ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles at military targets in Russia. France, in collaboration with Great Britain, began supplying Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles in July 2023 – the French name for the identical missiles is Scalp. Only Germany is not helping Ukraine with long-range weapons – Chancellor Olaf Scholz categorically rejects the delivery of “Taurus” cruise missiles.
Moscow sharply criticized the French Foreign Minister’s comments. The authorization to use long-range missiles against Russia is not support for Ukraine, but rather a death blow for the country, Foreign Office spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the state news agency Tass.
Kyiv: Putin threatens out of fear
Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian president’s advisory staff, sees Putin’s threats as an expression of “absolute fear.” He told “Bild am Sonntag” that the Russian president was trying to scare the West with his threats. “Putin only wants to end the war on his terms so as not to be held responsible for war crimes.” He called on the West to take a tougher stance against Russia. “You can’t negotiate with Putin. You have to confront him clearly and consistently.”
Podoljak criticized Chancellor Scholz’s recent phone call with Vladimir Putin. He accused Scholz of having spoken to Putin without sufficient leverage: “Putin sees every call as a humiliation and confirmation of his supremacy.” After the conversation, Russia responded with missile attacks on Ukraine, which confirmed his assessment.
Ukrainian offensive pushed back
According to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kremlin leader wants to retake the Ukrainian-occupied areas in the Kursk region by January 20 at the latest, the day US President-elect Donald Trump takes office. “The most important thing for Putin is to drive us out of the Kursk region,” Zelensky said at a conference on food security in Kiev. It is “very important” for Putin to show “that he has control over a situation that he does not have under control,” said Zelensky.
In a surprise offensive in August, Ukrainian troops took control of parts of the western Russian Kursk region. At the height of their advance, Ukrainian soldiers controlled around 1,400 square kilometers of the Kursk region. Most recently, this area had shrunk to 800 square kilometers. However, according to Ukrainian estimates, this cost Russia the lives of 25,000 soldiers. This information could not be independently verified.
Zelensky: “Open to suggestions”
Zelenskyy assumes that there are ways to end the war next year. “When will the war end? When Russia wants the war to end. When America takes a stronger position. When the global South is on the side of Ukraine and on the side of ending the war,” Zelensky said in an interview with foreign representatives Media in Kiev. He is confident that all these measures will be implemented and decisions will be made sooner or later. “It won’t be an easy road, but I’m confident that we have every chance of making it next year,” Zelensky told the Ukrinform agency.
Zelensky continued to say that they were open to suggestions from leaders of African, Asian and Arab states. “I also want to hear the proposals of the new President of the United States of America and I think we will hear them in January and we will have a plan to end this war.”
US President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly indicated during his election campaign that he wanted to reduce massive US military support for Kiev. Recently nothing has been heard of his earlier declaration that he could end the war within 24 hours. Recently there was no indication from Moscow that it would give in to a quick end to the war.
