Portuguese minister 'understands' Ukraine uses weapons against Russian military targets – Euractiv

Portugal understands Ukraine's use of weapons for defensive purposes against military targets on Russian territory, Defense Minister Nuno Melo said on Wednesday, adding that his view is personal and does not bind nothing about the government of which he is a member.

“I'll tell you what I think, I mean, any defensive action involves the use of weapons,” Melo said, on the sidelines of the Schuman Defense and Security Forum in Brussels.

“Imagine you have artillery pieces placed on Russian territory and used to hit Ukrainian lines. Are the Ukrainians prevented from attempting to destroy these artillery pieces? Any normal person would understand that it wouldn’t make much sense,” he added.

Asked by journalists to clarify Portugal's position on this issue, Melo insisted that if there were “artillery pieces on the Russian border territory, for example, which are used to assassinate Ukrainians”, then Ukraine should be able to use the weapons at its disposal to “destroy the artillery” used against them.

“It seems clear to me that they could be [allowed]from my point of view, but I don’t want to bind the government with this,” he added.

The minister was asked about the restrictions imposed on Ukraine by various Western countries that supply it with weapons, namely that it must not use them to attack positions on Russian territory.

For example, Ukraine's Kharkiv region is just over 50 kilometers from Russia's Belgorod district, from where Russian troops fire missiles and artillery.

However, several countries have argued that allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to attack positions on Russian territory could be interpreted as direct Western intervention in the conflict.

(André Ferrão, edited by Cristina Cardoso | Lusa.pt)

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