NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Ukraine’s invasion of the Russian Federation is a legal action within the framework of its right to self-defense. Stoltenberg made the comments in an interview with a German newspaper, his first reaction to Ukraine’s recent military actions that began about three weeks ago.
“Under international law, Ukraine’s right to self-defense is not limited to its borders,” Stoltenberg said.
“Russian soldiers, tanks and bases there (in Wursk) are legitimate targets under international law,” he added.
Stoltenberg also said Ukraine “did not coordinate its planning” with NATO and that the Western military alliance “played no role.”
Stoltenberg also welcomed Germany’s willingness to remain the largest European military donor to Ukraine and the second largest in the world.
His statement came after it became known that Berlin is preparing to cut aid to kyiv in next year’s budget. Last week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government was harshly criticised for this decision. However, according to Scholz, Germany will continue to supply the Ukrainian armed forces with the necessary equipment.
The Kursk offensive has made little difference to the front line in eastern Ukraine, where Russia continues to claim increasingly significant successes, including the occupation of three villages on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted his army was facing an “extremely difficult” situation near the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, where Russian troops are closing in.
Earlier, Kursor wrote that a unique video had appeared showing how pilots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroying crossings in the Kursk region in the Russian Federation.
