NATO chief dismisses Russian warnings after lifting of arms restrictions
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[May 31, 2024]
By Sabine Siebold, Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet
PRAGUE (Reuters) - NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday dismissed
warnings by Russian President Vladimir Putin that allowing Kyiv to use
Western weapons for strikes inside Russian territory might lead to an
escalation.
Speaking on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in
Prague, Stoltenberg said the alliance had heard such warnings many times
before.
"This is nothing new. It has ... been the case for a long time that
every time NATO allies are providing support to Ukraine, President Putin
is trying to threaten us to not do that," he told reporters.
"And an escalation – well, Russia has escalated by invading another
country."
Putin on Tuesday warned NATO members against allowing Ukraine to fire
their weapons into Russia and raised anew a risk of nuclear war after
several allies lifted restrictions imposed on the use of weapons donated
to Kyiv.
In a marked policy shift, U.S. President Joe Biden has also authorized
Kyiv the limited use of U.S.-supplied weapons inside Russia, four
officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday.

Biden's decision applies only to targets inside Russia near the border
with the Kharkiv region, where an offensive launched by Moscow on May 10
has overrun some villages, they explained. The U.S. is by far the
largest arms donor to Kyiv.
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, is 19 miles (30 km) from the
border with Russia.
KHARKIV OFFENSIVE
Russian jetfighters flying inside Russia out of reach of Ukrainian air
defenses have been supporting the offensive by loosing highly precise
glide bombs at Ukrainian defense lines and into Kharkiv, where they have
caused numerous civilian casualties.
Stoltenberg said Ukraine had the right to strike legitimate military
targets inside Russia, especially since the borderline and the frontline
near Kharkiv were more or less the same, and it was not reasonable to
assume Kyiv should not hit back.
"Ukraine has the right for self-defense, we have the right to help
Ukraine uphold the right for self-defense, and that does not make NATO
allies a party to the conflict," he added. "That was the case back in
February 2022, that was the case last year, that remains the case."
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United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary
General Jens Stoltenberg speak with the media prior to a meeting of
NATO foreign ministers at the Czernin Palace, in Prague, Czech
Republic, May 31, 2024. Peter David Josek/Pool via REUTERS

In Berlin on Friday, a German government spokesman said Ukraine
could use weapons supplied by Berlin to defend itself against
attacks launched from just inside Russia against the Kharkiv border
region, in accordance with international law.
In Prague, Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot stressed
Ukraine's right to self-defense without imposing geographical
borders on the use of weapons.
But other allies such as Italy refuse to go this far, with its
foreign minister arguing that his country was banned by the
constitution from allowing Kyiv to use donated weapons outside
Ukraine.
Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called on these
allies to change their stance since "the time is coming when it will
be determined whether we as an alliance are serious ... about
assisting Ukraine to win this war".
"I have always been of an opinion that Ukrainians are absolutely
capable of defining the targets. I have full confidence that they
know and understand what is needed, where the threat comes from,"
Landsbergis told reporters.
His comments were echoed by his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski
who stressed that Warsaw had never imposed such restrictions.
"We wish Ukraine victory, we wish them the recovery of all the
occupied territories ... Ukraine has the right to defend itself
according to the rules of humanitarian law."
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet in Prague,
Alan Charlish in Warsaw and Enrico Sciacovelli in Gdansk; Editing by
Benoit Van Overstraeten, Gareth Jones and Alison Williams)
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