France to give Ukraine long-range missiles – Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron said France has decided to transfer long-range missiles to Ukraine.
"France is making a major contribution to strengthening NATO on its eastern flank. In view of the situation and the counter-offensive being led by Ukraine, I have decided to increase deliveries of arms and equipment to give the Ukrainians the capacity to strike further, while maintaining the clarity and coherence of our doctrine, i.e. enabling Ukraine to defend its territory," Macron said at the NATO summit in Vilnius on Tuesday.
"Therefore, we have decided to supply Ukraine with new long-range missiles," the French president said.
France24 reported, with a reference to French military source, that Ukraine will be provided with "a significant number of SCALP cruise missiles, which will be integrated into non-Western warplanes."
The missiles, which can reach 250 kilometers, would only be used within Ukraine's internationally-recognized borders, the source told reporters in a briefing at the NATO Summit in Vilnius.
According to the source, "Paris did not consider it as an escalation given that Russia was firing missiles with a much larger range."