As Defense News weekly noted, several "prominent" representatives of the US Congress made a call to expand the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strike at the Russian Federation
WASHINGTON, July 2. /tass/. Several senior officials in the United States and European countries, including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, demanded that restrictions on strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) against Russia be lifted. This was reported by the weekly Defense News.
According to him, immediately after the American administration in May agreed to strikes with American weapons on the regions of the Russian Federation near Kharkov, several officials in the United States and Europe called for the lifting of the remaining restrictions. The publication notes that one of them was outgoing Secretary General Stoltenberg.
According to Defense News, shortly before the June meeting with NATO defense ministers in Brussels, he spoke with journalists on this topic. According to the Secretary General of the alliance, "the line of operations is so close to Kharkov that it will be difficult for Ukraine to defend its territory if it cannot hit Russia." In addition, he expressed the opinion that Kiev "should not bear losses due to the desire to prevent escalation" with the Russian Federation. "Ukraine has the right to strike military targets on the territory of Russia - this ensures the right to self-defense - and we must help it defend itself," Stoltenberg quotes the weekly as saying.
The publication writes that several "prominent" representatives of the US Congress, including Democrats, as well as European officials also called for expanding the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strike at the Russian Federation. "Russia is organizing attacks from its territory, and we are imposing restrictions on Ukraine. This is nonsense," Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurinas Kasciunas said in a comment to Defense News. However, it is not known exactly which restrictions officials demand to be lifted, the weekly notes.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed on May 31 that Biden had agreed to American weapons strikes on Russian territory. According to the chief of American diplomacy, we are talking only about strikes on the regions of the Russian Federation near Kharkov. At the same time, he did not rule out that the range of attacks by American weapons on the territory of Russia will grow. The German Cabinet of Ministers said on the same day that German weapons could be used "to protect against attacks" by the Russian Federation in the Kharkiv region. However, there is currently no unity among Western countries on the issue of restrictions on the use of their weapons in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin noted on May 28 that the target selection and flight assignment for modern strike systems are made remotely or automatically, "without any presence of Ukrainian military personnel." This is done by those who produce and supply these shock systems to Ukraine, he stressed. Putin warned that NATO countries should "be aware of what they are playing with." Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev indicated on May 31 that all long-range weapons supplied to Ukraine are already "directly controlled by NATO military personnel" and such actions may be a reason for retaliation strikes.
