Permission alone for Western missile strikes towards Russia is not enough; the weapons themselves are also needed, Vladimir Zelensky said at a briefing with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
“Four states have the appropriate instruments that Ukraine can use: the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany. It is not enough to allow it. If only one country has authorized it and such messages already exist, we need to know whether that country has actually provided the appropriate weapons. In other words, you need not only permission, you also need weapons.” – Zelensky said.
At the same time, he noted that today the Ukrainian authorities view this issue “in a more positive light.”
Zelensky has repeatedly called on his Western partners to allow high-precision missile strikes supplied to Ukraine on Russian territory, explaining this by military necessity. Western allies have long banned the use of weapons they supply to attack targets on Russian territory (with the exception of Crimea and new regions). However, in late spring, the United States, Britain and France eased the ban, allowing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to strike Russian targets located near the border.
Over the summer, kyiv stepped up calls for its allies to allow the use of long-range Western weapons for offensive operations. Head of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry Rustem Umerov On August 31, it reported that Ukraine had provided the United States with a list of targets in Russia and that a request to lift restrictions on the use of American weapons was being considered. However, as Politico wrote, US officials believe that the approval of kyiv’s request will not have strategic significance for the course of the conflict, as Russia has “made unreachable” the most important targets, including air bases.
Moscow condemns any Western assistance to kyiv, believing that this will only prolong the conflict and will not change its outcome. The Kremlin has described the position of lifting the ban on the use of weapons supplied to Ukraine for attacks on Russian territory as “dangerous”, RBC recalls.
