Joe Biden was left isolated in his refusal to allow US weapons to be fired into Russia by Ukraine, after France and Germany relaxed their rules.
Emmanuel Macron said Ukraine is free to use its high powered weapons – which include French versions of Storm Shadows – to fire over the border.
He made the announcement alongside Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, while holding up a map showing Russian bases being used to attack Ukraine in the latest offensives.
Mr Scholz was more cautious, but agreed Ukraine had the right under international law to use Western hardware to defend itself from attacks launched from Russian soil.
It leaves the US isolated as Western partners, including the UK, have almost all relaxed their rules. US weapons are considered crucial to halting the advances, especially on the northern border where Russian troops are massing for further attacks north of the second city of Kharkiv.
“We must allow [the Ukrainians] to neutralise the military sites from which the missiles are fired, the military sites from which Ukraine is attacked,” Mr Macron said during his state visit to Germany.
“But we must not allow other targets in Russia to be hit, and obviously civilian capabilities,” he added. “What has changed is that Russia has adapted its practices somewhat.
“If we say [to the Ukrainians], ‘you don’t have the right to reach the point from which the missiles are fired’, in fact, we’re telling them ‘we’re delivering you weapons, but you can’t defend yourselves’.”
“Ukraine has every opportunity to do so, under international law. We have to say it clearly, it is under attack and can defend itself,” Mr Scholz said, raising the prospect that German weaponry could be moved close to the border for strikes inside Russia.
The issue of striking targets on Russian soil has become an important issue in recent weeks after Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said his forces were unable to target Russian troops as they waited on the border before launching a new offensive in the north-eastern Kharkiv region.
“We, and this is a fact, cannot risk the support of our partners – that is why we are not using our partners’ arms to attack Russian territory. That’s why we are asking: please give us the permission to do that,” Mr Zelensky said on a visit to Belgium on Tuesday.
Kyiv’s military has repeatedly used Western weapons such as the US-supplied Himars rocket launchers to hit groupings of Russian soldiers on occupied territory.
Storm Shadow cruise missiles donated by Britain and France have been used to strike ammunition and fuel dumps aimed at supporting Russia’s offensive actions.
But an American embargo on such strikes on Russian soil has made it easier for Russia to launch long-range attacks from inside its borders.
Despite mounting pressure on Washington to permit strikes with US-provided weapons on military targets within Russia, there has been little sign of movement.
“Our position has not changed at this stage. We neither encourage nor permit the use of US-supplied weapons to strike Russian soil,” said White House national security spokesman John Kirby, after the Franco-German announcement.
The US opposition has prompted a renewed debate over how far Kyiv’s Western backers should go in allowing autonomous use of donated weapons.
Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary-general, has urged a reconsideration of the limits placed on certain weapons, without referring directly to the Americans.
The western alliance’s top official has argued that the restrictions “tie the hands of Ukrainians behind their backs”.
EU countries are also deeply divided on the subject, the bloc’s top foreign diplomat Josep Borrell has said.
The UK, the Baltic states, Finland and Poland have previously endorsed their weapons being used on targets inside Russia.
Their moves prompted accusations of “direct escalation” from the Kremlin, stoking fears of a widening conflict among some Nato members.
The US, Italy and Germany have been vocal in their fears that, as a nuclear power, Russia should not be provoked by lowered limits on Western weapon donations.
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