NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has argued that Ukraine should be able to use American weapons to attack Russian territory, in an apparent departure from the Biden administration.
“Especially now that there’s a lot of fighting going on in Kharkiv, close to the border, I think it’s time for our allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions that they have placed on the use of the weapons that they’ve provided to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. An interview with The Economist “Denying Ukraine the ability to use these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory will make it extremely difficult for Ukraine to defend itself.”
The NATO secretary-general did not name the United States or the Biden administration, but his remarks came as the United States continues to ban Ukraine from using American weapons against targets on Russian territory.
Kiev forces face coordinated Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, military officials say
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Poole)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the U.S. to lift the restrictions, a call that is beginning to gain support among some in Congress. Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Michael Turner (R-Ohio) wrote a letter to the Pentagon urging it to lift restrictions on U.S. use of the weapons.
“The Ukrainian people are being left unable to protect themselves due to the administration’s current policies,” the letter said.
be Report of the Institute for War StudiesRussia continues to mass equipment and personnel on the Ukrainian border in preparation for a planned Kharkov offensive, with much of that equipment being stored in reserve on the Russian side of the border, far out of reach of much of the Ukrainian arsenal, the report noted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (second from left) looks at a map during a visit to the 110th Mechanized Brigade in Avdiivka, the site of heavy fighting with Russian forces in the Donetsk region. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via Associated Press)
Situation in Ukraine “dire,” US ammunition supplies declining, Europe on “starvation diet”
The situation could change if Ukraine were able to use the US-supplied HIMARS rocket and ATACMS missile weapons systems, which would likely enable it to reach targets in Russia, the report said.
The latest calls for a change in policy have also been backed by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who said in an interview with Voice of America last week that the U.S. should not “micromanage” Ukraine’s war effort.
President Biden (Drew Ungerer/Getty Images)
“I think we need to allow Ukraine to wage war however it sees fit,” Johnson said. “Ukraine needs to be able to fight back.”
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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
