Ukraine can use German weapons against Russian border strikes, Berlin says

BERLIN — Germany said Friday that Ukraine could use weapons supplied by Berlin to defend itself against attacks launched from within Russia against the Kharkiv region, insisting that this did not make any difference. she a party to the conflict.

Germany agreed with its allies that kyiv could use the weapons to defend against strikes from positions in the immediately adjacent Russian border area, a government spokesperson said.

“We are convinced that Ukraine has the right, guaranteed by international law, to defend itself against these attacks,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“To do this, it may also use weapons provided for this purpose in accordance with its international legal obligations; including those provided by us.

The comments are the most explicit acknowledgment yet of a seemingly quiet shift in German policy, which comes as Moscow asserts territorial gains in a cross-border offensive on the region surrounding Germany's second-largest city. Ukraine, Kharkiv.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Friday for each step to be weighed.

“We must avoid the big war, the war between Russia and NATO,” he said at a Catholic Church event in the central state of Thuringia.

“At the same time, we must ensure that Ukraine can defend its independence and sovereignty,” he added.

Berlin's statement comes after days of scrutiny by Scholz's government over whether such a move would risk being labeled a war party, leading to an escalation of tensions with Russia.

Scholz said last year there was consensus with Ukraine that it would not use Western-supplied weapons to attack targets in Russia.

But he appeared to change his tune Tuesday during a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, saying Ukraine had “every possibility, under international law, for what it is doing.”

German officials have refused to divulge details about how they would like Ukraine to deploy Western-supplied weapons, wary of rhetoric that could inflame tensions at a time when Russia threatens tactical nuclear strikes against Ukraine.

The majority of weapons already delivered to Ukraine by Germany are not suitable for attacks against Russian positions located far behind the front line. Self-propelled howitzers, for example, can attack targets up to 56 km (35 miles) away, but are not deployed in close proximity to the front.

France, Britain and the United States have supplied Ukraine with longer-range weapons. The city of Kharkiv is 30 km from the border with Russia.

Berlin's statement comes a day after US officials suggested that President Joe Biden had quietly changed his policy to allow kyiv to fire US-supplied weapons at military targets in Russia that support Russia's offensive. Kharkov.

Previously, Biden had steadfastly refused to let Ukraine use US weapons for strikes inside Russia.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also spoke out in Prague on Friday in favor of Ukraine's use of weapons supplied by Western countries to strike legitimate military targets on Russian territory.

A Kremlin spokesman said Friday it was already aware of Ukraine's attempts to strike targets on Russian territory with weapons supplied by the United States, which is by far the largest donor of weapons in kyiv.

Reporting by Friederike Heine, Matthias Williams, Sarah Marsh, additional reporting by Holger Hansen, editing by Rachel More, Gareth Jones, Kirsti Knolle, Ros Russell