NATO boss calls for end to restrictions on US weapons destined for Russian targets

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has argued that Ukraine should be able to use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russian territory, in an apparent break with the Biden administration.

“I think the time has come for the allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions that they have on the use of the weapons that they have given to Ukraine because, especially now that a lot of fighting are taking place in Kharkiv, near the border,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with The Economist this weekend. “Denying Ukraine the ability to use these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very difficult for it to defend itself.”

Although the NATO boss did not mention the United States or the Biden administration by name, the comments come as the United States continues to bar Ukraine from using American weapons to target the Russian territory.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the United States to lift restrictions, calls that have begun to win favor with some lawmakers on the Hill. Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Michael Turner, Republican of Ohio, wrote a letter to the Department of Defense calling for restrictions on the use of American weapons are raised.

“The Ukrainians have been unable to defend themselves due to the administration's current policies,” the letter read.

According to a report from the Institute for the Study of War, Russia continued to gather equipment and men on the Ukrainian border for its planned offensive in Kharkiv. Most of that equipment remained in reserve on the Russian side of the border, the report said, far enough away to be out of reach of much of Ukraine's arsenal.

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This could change if Ukraine was able to use the HIMARS rocket and ATACMS missile weapon systems supplied to the country by the United States, which the report said would likely be able to hit Russian targets .

Recent calls for a change in this policy have also gained support from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who said last week in an interview with Voice of America that the United States should not ” micromanage” Ukraine’s war effort.

“I think we need to allow Ukraine to continue the war as it sees fit,” Johnson said. “They must be able to fight back.”

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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.