French lawmaker urges Paris to back Ukraine strikes on Russia

Jean-Louis Bourlanges, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the French National Assembly, has called on authorities in Paris to allow Ukraine to carry out attacks on Russian territory using weapons supplied by France.

Bourlanges published his appeal on social media. The politician stated that France should "remove unjustified taboos and make a decision" following the example of the United Kingdom, which has already allowed Ukraine to use British weaponry on enemy territory.

Bourlanges emphasized that this would be justified because "it would end the asymmetry between the aggressor and the victim."

"In the name of what should we deny Ukrainians the right to retaliate blow for blow against the attacks they are victims of? (...) In the face of Russia's aggression, only restoring the balance of power and rediscovering the symmetry of strategic positions can convince Putin to end his catastrophic endeavour," Bourlanges wrote.

At the end of February, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that defeating Russia is essential to ensuring European security. He added that sending Western ground forces to Ukraine in the future should not be excluded.

Then, at the beginning of March, he urged Ukraine's allies to "not be cowards" in the face of great powers. The head of the French state referred in this way to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing for over two years.