What Ukraine's allies say about Russian strikes with Western weapons

Kyiv: Ukraine urged its allies to allow kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons to carry out strikes inside Russia and to abandon the official position some of them have held throughout the 27 months of full-scale Russian invasion. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Reuters On May 20, discussions took place with kyiv's allies about using their weapons to strike Russian military targets on the border and further inside Russia.

He said the negotiations had resulted in “nothing positive”, but that some partners had changed their discourse on the issue. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned NATO members on Tuesday that they were playing with fire by proposing that Ukraine use Western weapons to strike targets in Russia.

Here is what kyiv's partners said:

United States

Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last year: “I can say that we have asked the Ukrainians not to use equipment provided by the United States for direct attacks against Russia.” .

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a press briefing on Tuesday that Washington was aware of Zelenskiy's comments on the issue.

“I would tell you that there is no change in our policy at this point. We do not encourage or permit the use of U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia.”

“We don't want this to escalate in any form,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a White House briefing.

NATO chief

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged members of the Western military alliance to lift restrictions on the use of their weapons to allow Ukraine to strike “legitimate military targets” in Russia.

“The time has come to consider whether it is appropriate to lift some of the restrictions imposed, because we now see that, especially in the Kharkiv region, the front line and the border are more or less the same,” said Stoltenberg. adding that the decision was up to each country.

NATO itself, as an organization, does not supply weapons to Ukraine.

Britain

During a visit to kyiv on May 3, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Reuters that Ukraine could use weapons supplied by London to strike targets in Russia, and that it was up to kyiv to decide whether to do so.

“Ukraine has this right,” he said. “Just as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can completely understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it defends itself.”

France and Germany

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that Ukraine should be allowed to strike military sites in Russia that Moscow was using to attack Ukraine. “We believe that we should allow them to neutralize the military sites from which missiles are fired, the military sites from which Ukraine is attacked,” he said at a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“(But) we should not allow them to strike other targets in Russia and civilian or military sites in Russia.”

Asked about this, Scholz said: “Ukraine has every possibility under international law for what it is doing. This must be said explicitly.”

“I find it strange that some say he should not be allowed to defend himself and take appropriate action.”

Denmark

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen echoed Scholz and Stoltenberg in her comments to the broadcaster TV2 Tuesday.

“You are invited to use what we gave to Ukraine, also outside Ukraine – that is, on Russian targets – if this is in accordance with international law,” she said. declared.

“The NATO Secretary General was very clear on this issue a few hours ago: it is within the rules to wage war because it is Ukraine that is being attacked by Russia.”

However, she did not specify whether this would apply to the F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine is expected to receive from Copenhagen over the summer.

The Netherlands

In response to a request for comment, the Dutch Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that Ukraine should use the donated weapons in accordance with international law.

“Beyond this, the Netherlands does not impose any legal limitations on the use of Dutch-supplied weapons over or on Russian soil,” he added.

Czechia

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala told a news briefing Tuesday that statements by Stoltenberg and others on the matter were “absolutely logical.”

“Ukraine is a country defending itself against Russian aggression… and as a country under attack, it certainly has every right to use all possibilities for its defense.”

The Baltic countries

Lithuania has expressed support for Ukraine's right to strike targets in Russia.

“The way to respond to Russia's aggression in Ukraine, and also in our countries, is to support Ukraine, is to allow Ukraine to use the weapons it already has, how it should use them,” said Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. Monday.

“That’s how you deal with escalation… that’s how you stop Russia.”

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics also agreed with Stoltenberg, saying CNN Monday was a “critical moment” for Ukraine: “I think there is no rational, pragmatic reason not to allow Ukraine to use these weapons against Russia from in the most efficient way possible.

A day later, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur called on kyiv's allies to “increase the training of Ukrainian fighters (and) allow Ukraine to strike military targets in Russia.”