NATO Members Divided on Ukraine's Plans to Hit Russia With Western Weapons
16:38 GMT 28.05.2024 (Updated: 16:54 GMT 28.05.2024)
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Western powers, who initially supplied Kiev with weapons for defense, now suggest using them to strike deep into Russia.
Who favors such attacks:
Last week, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged the bloc’s members who supplied weapons to Ukraine to stop barring Kiev from using these weapons to attack Russia.
Stoltenberg’s sentiment was recently echoed by Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics who announced that he sees no reason to impose such restrictions on Ukraine.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala claimed that Ukraine has the right to use Western weapons to attack Russia, arguing that it is “logical.”
Estonia’s Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said he hopes every country who provided Ukraine with weapons would allow Kiev to attack Russia with this gear.
Dutch Defense Minister Kasja Ollongren said that the situation where Ukraine would strike inside Russia should not even be a matter of discussion.
The opposition:
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo insists that all military gear his country provides to Ukraine should be used on Ukrainian territory.
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani also argued that Western armaments provided to Kiev should be used within Ukraine’s boundaries.
Ambiguous:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Kiev “will have to make its own decisions” about conducting attacks beyond Ukraine’s borders, even as the Biden administration officially prohibits the use of US-supplied weapons such as ATACMS missiles for strikes deep into Russian territory.
Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner said that her country is "militarily neutral according to our constitution".
Moscow warns that Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory using Western-supplied military hardware could lead to direct conflict with NATO.
