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France’s defense chief affirms Kiev pledges non-use of SCALP missiles on targets in Russia

French President Emmanuel Macron announced upon arrival at the annual NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11 that Paris planned to send deep-strike missiles to Ukraine

PARIS, July 14. /TASS/. The Paris-Kiev agreement for the supply of SCALP long-range missiles to Ukraine includes guarantees that the deep-strike weapons will not be used against targets inside Russia, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu told France 2 television on Friday.

"It is clearly part of our agreement with Ukraine," he said, when asked if it was guaranteed that the missiles would not be fired on Russian territory.

"We are talking about missiles that have a total range of 250 kilometers and will make it possible to target areas beyond Russia’s line of defense and areas of strategic military interest, disrupting Russian defenses to carry out a counteroffensive," Lecornu maintained.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced upon arrival at the annual NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11 that Paris planned to send deep-strike missiles to Ukraine. Lecornu said later that some of the missiles had already been delivered, while others were in transit. According to Reuters, France intends to provide Ukraine with a total of 50 SCALP missiles that will be adjusted for use by Soviet-made aircraft. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Paris’s move to send SCALP missiles to Kiev was yet another step towards further escalating the Ukrainian conflict.

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Ukraine crisis France

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