RIO DE JANEIRO, November 19. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he could not confirm information that Washington had allowed Kiev to use American long-range weapons to attack deep into Russia.
"I cannot confirm [the relevant information] because everyone is talking about it as if it were a done deal. Even [EU foreign policy chief Josep] Borrell officially said that the Europeans discussed the issue, but decided that everyone will decide for themselves whether or not to supply their long-range missiles to Ukraine. I cannot guess," the top diplomat said at a press conference after attending the G20 summit.
The New York Times reported on November 17, citing sources, that US President Joe Biden had authorized the use of US-supplied ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles for strikes inside Russia. France’s Le Figaro newspaper, in turn, said that Paris and London had granted similar permission for the use of their SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles, respectively. The newspaper later removed the article from its website without explanation. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated that Paris had not changed its stance on strikes deep inside Russia. The German government confirmed that the United States had informed Berlin of the decision to authorize strikes inside Russia.
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed that the US administration had lifted restrictions for US-supplied missiles to be used for strikes up to 300 kilometers inside Russia. He noted that the issue had been discussed at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting but the parties had failed to come to a consensus on lifting the restrictions, ruling that every member state would decide for itself.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov recalled that Moscow’s position on the Ukrainian strikes by US missiles deep into Russian territory was clearly and unambiguously formulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in September. According to him, this decision means a "qualitatively new round of escalation of tensions."