France has joined the US and the UK in authorizing Ukraine to use long-range weapons against targets within Russian territory. According to France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Kiev may direct the long-range weapons supplied by Paris at Russia “in the context of self-defense.” In an interview with the BBC, the minister declined to say whether Ukraine had already used long-range weapons provided by France. Barrot did not confirm any specific or recent approval but reiterated France's consistent position on Ukraine's use of long-range weapons. France, along with the UK, began supplying Ukraine with cruise missiles in July 2023, with the French version referred to as “Scalp." According to reports, Ukraine recently fired US-made long-range ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles at military targets in Russia.  This came after  US President Joe Biden had given Ukraine permission to use the missiles and revealed that he plans to cancel $4.65 billion in debt owed by the country.  The Kremlin has accused Biden of undermining President-elect Donald Trump's efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict.  “Trump talked during the election campaign that he wants to create peace in some way and lead everyone on a peaceful path. And now they are doing everything to escalate the situation in such a way that peace agreements are doomed to failure,” explained Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in an interview on the political program ‘Moscow. Kremlin. Putin.’ Trump has previously stated that he wants to quickly end Russia's war against Ukraine, which has lasted over 1,000 days. However, no concrete solutions have yet been presented. 

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