BRUSSELS, November 19. /TASS/. Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed that the US lifted restrictions for US-supplied missiles to be used for strikes up to 300 kilometers inside Russia.
"The US administration has authorized the use of its missiles to strike up to 300 kilometers inside Russian territory. This is not very far, but it is a decision of the US administration. Why they made this decision now and not earlier, before the election, I don't know," he said at a news conference following a meeting of foreign ministers from EU member states.
The Americans said "no" for a long time, but they said "yes" now, Borrell said. According to the diplomat, EU foreign ministers discussed the issue at their meeting.
No comment for media leaks
Borrell stated this as a fact that he himself has knowledge about, and wasn’t referring to any news media reports. There is a strict rule in EU institutions that leaks to the media don’t merit comments.
"We have discussed this," Borrell said. "There was no common decision on this today. Each country will act as it sees fit."
Borrell also said he had always called for supplying Ukraine with weapons that not only allow it to "shoot down arrows, but also to get through to archers."
Earlier, Borrell also urged EU countries to "learn the language of force if the EU wants to seek the role of a geopolitical player." Even before the discussion on lifting restrictions for European weapons to be used against Russia, he made it clear from the get-go that he doubted it would be effective.
Single comment
Borrell's statement was the only official comment in Brussels on November 18 on the issue of strikes against Russia with NATO weapons.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also appeared before reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, along with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. He devoted more than half of his speech to the conflict in Ukraine and repeating his old accusations against Russia, Iran, China and North Korea of military cooperation, but Rutte was completely silent on the topic of strikes against Russia and the US news reports about on the issue.
Reporters were not allowed to ask him questions.
Leaks to news media
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 deep inside Russia. France’s Le Figaro reported that France and the UK had granted similar permission for the use of their SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles, respectively. The newspaper later removed this statement from its article on the website without explanation. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Paris had not changed its stance on strikes deep into Russia. London has not yet provided any official comment. The German government confirmed that the United States had informed Berlin of the decision to authorize strikes deep inside Russia. The White House declined to confirm that permission for such strikes had been granted.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow’s position on strikes by US missiles deep inside Russian territory was clearly outlined by Russian President Vladimir Putin in September. According to Peskov, this decision marks a "qualitatively new round" of tensions.