Ukraine has the right to strike Russian military targets “outside Ukraine” under international law, NATO’s chief has said for the first time.
Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary-general, told Radio Free Europe in an interview published on Tuesday: “According to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defence... and that includes also striking legitimate military targets, Russian military targets, outside Ukraine.”
The comments represent a significant shift in rhetoric from Mr Stoltenberg, who has previously avoided explicitly referring to attacks on Russian territory.
The use of western-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia has long been a point of contention among Ukraine’s allies due to concerns over escalating the conflict.
Mr Stoltenberg acknowledged this dilemma, adding: “It’s for each and every ally to decide whether there are some caveats on what they deliver, and different allies have had a bit different policies on that.”
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And so it escalates. It might be easier to attack the military bases in Russia from long range than the hand to hand combat in the streets.