NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged allies to allow Kyiv to retaliate against targets in Russia with Western weapons. He emphasized the importance of such strikes amid the Russian offensive on Kharkiv. According to the secretary-general, the strikes are Ukraine's self-defense against Russian aggression.
“NATO countries that supply weapons to Ukraine make decisions on what grounds they are supplied. I believe that it is time to think about lifting some restrictions. Because we see today that, for example, in the Kharkiv area, the front line and the border are almost the same thing. If the Ukrainians cannot attack military targets on Russian territory, it makes it very difficult for them to defend themselves because they have restrictions on the use of weapons. It's self-defense. Some NATO countries have lifted the restrictions, now it is time to lift the rest of the restrictions,” Stoltenberg said.
However, not all countries are willing to give their permission to strike Russian territory with Western weapons. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, as well as Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini spoke against it.
“I don't want to shift World War III to my children, so NATO will not and cannot force us to kill in Russia, and no one can force us to send Italian soldiers to fight or die in Ukraine, it is one thing to defend, another to kill,” Salvini said.
Speaking at a session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Stoltenberg also complained that the EU was “not even close to fulfilling its promise” to supply Ukraine with 1 million shells. The secretary-general said that the military alliance would announce the creation of a permanent structure for organizing arms deliveries to Ukraine and their financing at the summit in Washington.
“Military supplies should again go to Ukraine in a continuous flow, past delays and unfulfilled supply promises have had serious consequences. This is one of the reasons why I proposed at the summit to endorse a greater role for NATO in coordinating and providing assistance and training for Ukrainian forces. We need a solid, strong institutionalized structure. Temporary, short-term voluntary pledges of aid are good, but in the long term we need more predictable and larger-scale support for Ukraine,” he said.
Earlier, the NATO secretary-general said that it was necessary to create a permanent military fund worth 100 billion euros a year. The initiative should be approved by 32 members of the North Atlantic alliance.
