Macron waved a map and shouted: "How do we explain this to Ukraine?!" VIDEO

It has also been reported that France and Germany want to work on developing a joint long-range missile.

- However, we must not allow Ukraine to attack other targets on the territory of Russia, especially non-civilian ones, Macron said, as reported by the agencies.

Scholz added that Ukraine must respect international law "which has worked well so far".

"These maps show that Ukrainian territory is actually attacked from bases in Russia. So how do we explain to the Ukrainians that we will have to protect those cities... if we tell them that they must not hit the point from which the missiles are fired," Macron said, and the video shows the French leader waving a map.

Individuals on the X network immediately rushed to comment that Macron had actually given the go-ahead for targeting military facilities in Russia.

They did not have to wait long for the answer of the Russian leader Vladimir Putin. From Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he threatened Europe with "serious consequences" if Ukraine is allowed to use Western long-range weapons against Russian territory in the future.

"Those representatives of NATO, especially in Europe and especially in small countries, should understand what they are playing with," Putin said at the end of the state visit on Tuesday. He pointed out that Russia could take military countermeasures and said that especially smaller countries should not forget that their territories are not large and that they are densely populated.

More than two years ago, Putin accused the West of continued escalation. Modern weapons systems, such as the ATACMS missile system, are not operated by Ukrainian soldiers, but by highly qualified NATO experts based on satellite reconnaissance data, he claims.

So far, these weapons have mostly been aimed at Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia. Putin particularly criticized NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who is in favor of targeting military targets on Russian territory.

Stoltenberg referred to Ukraine's right to self-defense. Ukraine is asking the US and other Western countries for permission to use missiles and cruise missiles to attack Russia in order to fight the enemy more effectively.

Until now, Kyiv has mainly used drones of its own production for these attacks. Until now, the Russian army knew from a safe position, practically without interference, to gather troops across the border for new attacks on Ukrainian territory or to bombard cities near the border, such as Kharkiv.

According to Putin, such approval by Western countries would represent a direct confrontation between Russia and the West.

In this context, the 71-year-old once again referred to Russia's strategic nuclear weapons. He also questioned the possible protection of NATO countries by the US.

"If serious consequences for Europe materialize, how will the US behave given our parity in strategic armaments?"

Since the start of the war, the Russian leadership has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons to dissuade the West from providing more support to Ukraine.