NATO's Stoltenberg calls for lifting of arms restrictions for Ukraine

Restrictions on how Ukraine can use weapons donated by NATO allies should be lifted, alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday at the start of a two-day meeting of ministers of Foreign Affairs in Prague.

His comments come as frustration mounts in kyiv over the US administration's ban on Ukraine using its weapons against Russia on Russian territory – a demand driven by fears of further escalation with Moscow .

The ban helped protect Russian troops across the border from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, which has been the target of a Russian offensive since May 10, Stoltenberg said.

“We see that Russia can be on the Russian side of the border – more or less like on the front line – it can be there with its artillery, its missile launchers, its aircraft and its ammunition and fuel depots,” did he declare.

“I think the time has come to reconsider some of these restrictions to allow Ukrainians to actually defend themselves.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded this month for permission to strike on Russian territory.

“We are in an absurd situation where the West is afraid that Russia will lose the war – and it does not want Ukraine to lose it,” Mr Zelensky told AFP.

Divisions

Western countries appear increasingly divided over whether Ukraine's military should be allowed to strike targets on Russian soil.

The United States is the main holdout.

US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said before the Prague meeting that there had been “no change” in Washington's policy regarding the use of its weapons on Russian territory.

Ms Smith said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others had made clear that “ultimately this is Ukraine's war”.

“They have to decide how to fight this war and we ultimately leave it in their hands,” she added.

Alexander De Croo, the Belgian prime minister, said this week that the F-16 fighter jets his country plans to start sending to Ukraine could only be used within Ukraine's borders.

Germany, Ukraine's second-largest military donor after the United States, has also said its weapons should be used on Ukrainian territory.

But Policy reported that Germany was changing its position, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's office saying on Wednesday that Ukraine's use of its weapons could be “extended to the territory of the aggressor.”

Ukraine's allies have demonstrated that they tend to overcome their initial reservations with a delay of several months. This includes deliveries of F-16s and Leopard tanks.

Some Ukraine allies, such as the United Kingdom and the Baltic states, have argued that allowing Ukraine to strike Russia is part of self-defense.

Mr. Stoltenberg agrees, saying international law gives Ukraine the right to defend itself.

“It’s enshrined in the UN charter,” he said.

“The right of self-defense also includes striking legitimate military targets outside Ukraine, for example on the border of Russian territory, by launching attacks against Ukrainian forces.”

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Thursday that kyiv should not have to fight “with one hand tied behind its back.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said this week that Ukraine should be allowed to “neutralize” bases in Russia used to launch strikes. According to him, this should not include other military targets.

Mr Macron also said he would support sending NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine – a proposal that has drawn sharp criticism from some allies and his opponents in France, who have accused of warmongering.

Mr. Stoltenberg, for his part, called for caution. “That’s not the plan,” he said The Economist. The goal is not an escalation to “full-scale conflict,” he said.

Weapons sought by Ukraine – in pictures

Updated: May 30, 2024, 3:40 p.m.