NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called to allow Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia with weapons provided to it.
He made this point in an interview with The Economist published on Friday, 24 May.
Stoltenberg noted that Russia’s offensive push in Kharkiv region is partly due to the fact that Ukraine is not allowed to use weapons supplied by Western countries to attack “legitimate military targets in Russia”. “It is time for the allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions they have imposed on the use of the weapons they have provided to Ukraine,” the NATO Secretary General stressed.
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These restrictions enable Russia to concentrate its forces, confident that Ukraine cannot deploy its most effective weapons until they cross the border. Additionally, Russia can launch weapons like Lancet drones from its own territory with relative safety. “We need to remember what this is,” Mr. Stoltenberg said emphatically. “This is a war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine. Ukraine has the right to defend itself, which includes striking targets on Russian soil.”
“Especially now when a lot of the fighting is going on in Kharkiv, close to the border, to deny Ukraine the possibility of using these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very hard for them to defend themselves.”
Mr. Stoltenberg
A few days earlier David Cameron, Britain’s foreign secretary, had said Ukraine was free to use British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike targets in Russia. Lloyd Austin, America’s defense secretary, recently hinted that Russian aircraft launching glide bombs from Russian airspace might be legitimate targets for American missiles.
