NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg Recognises Ukraine's Right to Defend Itself and Strike at Russian Territory
For the first time since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Ukraine has the right to strike "Russian military targets outside Ukraine" in accordance with international law.
Stoltenberg's statement was made in an interview with Radio Liberty, and was confirmed by a NATO spokesperson in a comment to the Financial Times.
In particular, in an interview with Radio Liberty, the NATO Secretary General said that the use of Western-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia has long been a subject of controversy among Kyiv's allies because of fears of escalation.
"Each ally decides for itself whether it has any reservations about what it supplies, and different allies have slightly different policies on this. But in general, we must remember what we are talking about. This is Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine, which is a blatant violation of international law," Stoltenberg said.
"And according to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defence. And it also includes strikes against legitimate military targets, Russian military targets outside of Ukraine. That's international law, and of course Ukraine has the right to do that to defend itself," he added.
A NATO official also confirmed to the Financial Times that Stoltenberg was indeed referring to Ukraine's right to self-defence, including by striking legitimate Russian military targets outside Ukraine.
These words represent a step forward in the rhetoric of Stoltenberg, who has previously spoken about Kyiv's rights under international law without explicitly mentioning attacks on Russian territory.
In recent months, Ukraine has increased the number of strikes on military targets in Russia using drones and long-range missiles. However, due to the West's sensitive attitude to such attacks, Kyiv does not directly claim responsibility for them.
Earlier, the NATO Secretary General emotionally called on the US Congress to approve additional funding for Ukraine as soon as possible, stressing that military support from other allies of the Alliance already exceeds that of the United States.