French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out in favour of allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to attack Russian positions on Russian territory, as the question was discussed elsewhere in Europe.

“We think that we should allow them to neutralise the military sites from which the missiles are fired and basically the military sites from which Ukraine is attacked,” Macron said on Tuesday after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz near Berlin.

“We should not allow other targets in Russia to be hit, civilian capacities of course, or other military targets,” he added.

“Ukrainian soil is de facto being attacked from bases located in Russia. How do you explain to the Ukrainians that they must protect their cities?” said Macron. “If you tell them: ‘You must not reach the point from which the missiles are fired’, then you are basically saying: ‘We are supplying you with weapons, but you must not defend yourselves’.”

Macron also showed a map of the current frontline in Ukraine and underlined that France does not want any further escalation.

Scholz emphasised that Ukraine had every option under international law for what it was doing. “We have to say this explicitly: it is under attack and can defend itself.”

The use of the weapons supplied by the US, France and Germany is subject to compliance with international law, he said. “This has worked well in practice so far and will certainly continue to do so,” Scholz said.

Germany and other countries have linked the transfer of weapons to Ukraine to strict conditions for their use, stipulating they may not be used to attack targets in Russia, fearing otherwise NATO could otherwise become a party to the war.

However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently proposed lifting restrictions on Ukrainian attacks.