Ukraine updates: Germany still a 'no' on long-range missiles

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday hailed Washington's decision to allow Ukraine to fire US-supplied long-range missiles into Russia.

"It was a decision that was a totally good one," Macron said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil. US President Joe Biden, who made the policy change, is also present at the summit. 

Macron acknowledged that the policy change was triggered by North Korea sending troops to aid Russia in its war in Ukraine, a move from Moscow that was "a grave change in the conflict which shouldn't be underestimated," the French president said.

He added that Russia was "the only power making an escalation in this conflict today" with the North Korean mobilization. "So it's really a sudden change in this war that led to the Americans' decision."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was asked at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday about the supply of German long-range missiles to Ukraine. 

In Germany's case, Taurus cruise missiles would be the relevant weaponry, something Berlin has not sent to Ukraine. 

"I have explained very clearly why I do not think it is right to supply Taurus cruise missiles," Scholz said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil.

He said it was important to support Ukraine's defense against Russia's full-scale invasion while still acting "prudently."

The missiles could only be used if "responsibility for targeting" was shared, Scholz said, a move he has previously said would risk the perception of direct German participation in the war.

"That is something that I cannot take responsibility for," Scholz said Monday in Rio de Janeiro. "We have a clear understanding that the powerful weapons we have supplied so far, the long-range artillery, the rocket launchers, cannot be used to penetrate deep into the Russian hinterland."

With snap elections looming in Germany, Scholz also faces a weakened situation domestically and the risk of further damage to the upcoming campaign, with a strong pacifist tradition in postwar Germany that was often particularly prevalent in what his Social Democrats would consider their supporter base, for instance the major trade unions.

Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza believes it is "counterproductive to engage in any sort of business as usual with Vladimir Putin" and that the "only strategic solution [to Russian aggression] is to have a change of government in Russia."

Speaking to DW at the protest staged by exiled Russians in Berlin on Sunday, Kara-Murza criticized the decision by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone on Friday and any suggestion of cutting a deal with the Kremlin.

"We hear such voices in the West … voices [which] claim that this is a road to peace," he said. "They couldn't be more wrong on this. If there is some sort of a deal that is cut with Putin over the head of Ukraine without taking in consideration the interests of Ukraine, this will not lead to peace."

For Kara-Murza, a former ally of murdered Russian dissident Boris Nemtsov and vice-chairman of the now-outlawed NGO Open Russia, regime change in Moscow is the only option.

"Only when Russia has a democratically elected, legitimate government that respects the rights and freedoms of its own people, [will it] also respect the civilized norms of international behavior," he said.

"Only then will Russia stop being a threat both to itself and to the outside world."

Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has described the recent phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin as "symbolic" — and not in a good way.

"History has shown very clearly what the appeasement of dictators leads to," he told DW during an anti-Putin protest staged by exiled Russians in Berlin on Sunday, pointing out that Russia conducted one of its largest bombardments of Ukrainian cities just two days later.

Kara-Murza, who was released from Russian jail as part of the majorprisoner swap in August this year, compared the West's attempts to deal with Putin's Russia over the last 20 years to the appeasement of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s.

"What is seen as compromise by the leaders of democratic nations is seen as weakness by dictators," he said.

"This policy of Western appeasement towards Putin was in a large part responsible for the war of aggression that Putin unleashed in Ukraine, because appeasement of dictators always leads to more aggression."

US President Joe Biden has urged the leaders of G20 countries to support Ukraine’s sovereignty.

"The United States strongly supports Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should as well," Biden said in his opening remarks at his final G20 summit.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also attending the summit that is taking place in Rio de Janeiro.

The comment comes after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seemingly appeared to confirm US media reports that the White House had quietly lifted its ban on Kyiv using US-made long-range weapons to strike inside Russian territory.

Biden and his government are yet to publicly confirm this.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called the relaxation of restrictions on weapons sent to Ukraine by the US is "astonishly dangerous."

He urged against NATO member states allowing their weapons to be used inside Russian territory.

Although Hungary is a member of both the EU and NATO, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has caused outrage amongst allies for being friendly to Moscow in recent years, going so far as to visit Russia in July for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

DW spoke with retired US Army Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the former commander of the US Army in Europe, about the change in US policy.

"This will enable Ukraine to strike Russian and North Korean headquarters, logistics and artillery that will help disrupt Russian preparations for their attack... that'll be the immediate tactical benefit which will undermine the Russian advantage," he said, adding that the move "significantly degrades Russia's ability to continue its meat grinder tactics."

Hodges said that the decision also "increases pressure on Germany to reconsider its very restrictive policy about Taurus."

"This tells the Russians that the United States we are not turning our back on Ukraine and that their hope that we would just quit is going to fail."

You can watch the full interview here.

The office of Chancellor Scholz has said that despite support for the US decision from Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Germany had not changed its mind about delivering long-range missiles to Ukraine.

"The chancellor's decision is unchanged," a spokesman said when asked about sending German Taurus missiles to Kyiv.

Berlin's position has long been that such a move would draw Germany too deep into the conflict.

The European Union has announced that it is widening sanctions against the government in Tehran over its support for the Russian military.

At a foreign ministers meeting, the bloc decided to prohibit any transactions with ports "used for the transfer of Iranian UAVs or missiles or related technology and components to Russia."

Iran-made ballistic missiles are a key component of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Germany's top diplomat Annalena Baerbock said that backing Moscow "must and will have consequences" for Beijing, as doing so is a threat to Europe's "core security interests."

She did not give further details on what the consequences for China's alleged funneling of spy drones to Russia might be, but said the European Union was preparing fresh sanctions on Iran for giving the Kremlin ballistic missiles.

An unnamed EU official told German news agency DPA that reports of direct Chinese military aid were "extremely worrying," but that there was no hard evidence of it yet.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Joe Biden was further inflaming tensions with his decision to allow Kyiv to use American long-range weapons in Russia.

"It's obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps in order to continue fuelling the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions," he said.

European leaders have expressed their support for the call from Washington to drop restrictions on Ukraine using long-range missiles supplied by Western allies inside Russia.

"The decision from the American side, and I would like to emphasize that this is not a rethink but an intensification of what has already been delivered by other partners, is so important at this moment," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said ahead of a summit for EU top diplomats in Brussels.

Her French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot echoed her sentiments, saying "we openly said this was an option that we would consider if it was to allow to strike a target from where Russia is currently aggressing Ukrainian territory. So nothing new on the other side."

Outgoing EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell added:  "I've been saying once and again that Ukraine should be able to use the arms we provided to them, in order to not only stop the arrows but also to be able to hit the archers."

"I continue believing this is what has to be done. I'm sure we will discuss once again. I hope member states will agree on that."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in Brazil for a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Speaking with a Brazilian newspaper, Scholz said Germany would continue to supply Ukraine with aid and military equipment for as long as necessary.

The interview took place before revelations about the US dropping its long-range missile ban came to light.

Following one of the fiercest strikes of the entire war in the city of Sumy, rescuers were still combing through the rubble, looking for victims and survivors.

At least eight people were killed in the barrage, including two children.

"Every life destroyed by Russia is a big tragedy," said Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko.

Some 400 people were able to be safely evacuated from a residential area that was struck as part of Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Since the start of the war, Moscow has focused attacks on Ukraine's power supply ahead of the cold winter months.

Russia lawmaker Maria Butina has said that the US is taking a significant risk with its decision to drop restrictions on using long-range weapons inside Russian territory.

"These guys, Biden's administration, is trying to escalate the situation to the maximum while they still have power and are still in office," Butina told Reuters news agency.

"I have a great hope that (President-elect Donald) Trump will overcome this decision if this has been made because they are seriously risking the start of World War Three which is not in anybody's interest."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said that he would consider such a move by a NATO ally as a declaration of war.