NATO representative: Ukraine’s right to self-defense includes strikes inside Russian territory

NATO leadership recognizes Ukraine’s right to conduct strikes on targets within the Russian territory. However, permission to use Western-supplied weapons for such assaults remains with the countries providing these arms, NATO’s senior representative in Ukraine, Patrick Turner, told Ukrinform.

Russia launches Shahed drones and guided bombs on Ukrainian cities and villages daily. To stop this, Ukraine aims to strike Russian airports, bases, and drone and ammunition depots. But, it needs approval from its partners to carry out strikes inside Russia with Western-provided weapons.

“First and foremost, under international law, Ukraine has the absolute right, as part of its self-defense, which is enshrined in the UN Charter, to strike military targets beyond its borders from which Russia attacks.

Ukraine is already exercising this right using both NATO-supplied weapons and its own armaments,” noted Turner.

However, he emphasized that each country must decide whether Ukraine can use the weapons it supplies.

The common goal of the Alliance is to help Ukraine achieve the best possible situation on the battlefield. NATO has decided to provide Ukraine with €40 billion in military aid this year to complete this objective, he said.

At the same time, Turner reiterated that NATO has consistently stressed that “progress on the battlefield will not depend on any single system, specific weapon, or individual permission to use it.”

Ukraine continues to persuade its Western partners to allow targeting bases within Russian territory with Western weapons to reduce the aggressor’s offensive potential.

For now, Ukraine is relying on domestically produced weapons, primarily strike drones, which have already hit significant objects in various regions of Russia, including ammunition depots, missile storage sites, and military airfields.

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