NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg supported that Ukraine should be able to use American weapons to strike inside Russian territory, in an apparent break with the Biden administration.
“I think the time has come for the allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions that they have on the use of the weapons that they have given to Ukraine because, especially now that a lot of fighting take place in Kharkiv, near the border,” Stoltenberg said in a interview with the economist during the weekend. “Denying Ukraine the ability to use these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very difficult for it to defend itself.”
Even if the NATO boss did not mention the United States or the Biden administration Namely, these comments come as the United States continues to bar Ukraine from using American weapons to target Russian territory.
KIEV FORCES ARE AGAINST CONCERTED RUSSIAN PUSH INTO EASTERN UKRAINE, MILITARY OFFICIAL SAYS
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, swimming pool)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the United States to lift restrictions, calls that have begun to gain favor with some lawmakers on the Hill. Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Michael Turner, Republican of Ohio, wrote a letter to the Department of Defense calling for restrictions on the use of American weapons are raised.
“The Ukrainians have been unable to defend themselves due to the administration’s current policies,” the letter read.
According to a Report of the Institute for the Study of War, Russia continued to gather equipment and men on the Ukrainian border for its planned offensive in Kharkiv. Most of that equipment remained in reserve on the Russian side of the border, the report said, far enough away to be out of reach of much of Ukraine’s arsenal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, second from left, looks at a map during his visit to the 110th mechanized brigade in Avdiivka, site of heavy fighting with Russian troops in the Donetsk region. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
This could change if Ukraine was able to use the HIMARS rocket and ATACMS missile weapon systems supplied to the country by the United States, which the report said would likely be able to reach the country. Russian targets.
Recent calls for a change in this policy have also gained support from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who said last week in an interview with Voice of America that the United States should not ” micromanage” Ukraine’s war effort.
President Biden (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“I think we need to allow Ukraine to continue the war as it sees fit,” Johnson said. “They must 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.
