NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that the allies should consider some of the arms restrictions on Ukraine, especially in light of the nature of the fighting currently taking place in the Kharkiv region, arguing that the right to self-defense includes the right to strike legitimate military targets outside of Ukraine. He said this during a press conference on Monday, UNN reports.
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"We, as NATO allies, have the right to help Ukraine defend its right to self-defense. And that is exactly what NATO Allies have done by providing military support to Ukraine. This does not make NATO or NATO Allies a party to the conflict. We are providing support to Ukraine, but we are not sending NATO troops or NATO assets to participate in the conflict either on the ground or in the airspace over Ukraine," Stoltenberg said.
It is up to the allies to decide on restrictions on the weapons they supply to Ukraine. This is not a NATO decision, it is a decision made by individual allies. Individual allies have made different decisions. Some allies have no restrictions, other allies have imposed other restrictions. I mean, I think it's time to look at some of these restrictions. Because we have to remember that Ukraine has the right to self-defense, they are defending their land, their territory. And according to international law, the right to self-defense includes the right to strike legitimate military targets outside of Ukraine. This is part of self-defense
According to him, "we see this very clearly demonstrated now in the battles in the Kharkiv region, because they are actually, Russian troops are on the territory of Russia, attacking directly across the border, the territory of Ukraine.
"The front line is more or less the border line, and if you cannot attack Russian troops from the other side of the front line because they are on the other side of the border, then of course you really reduce the ability of Ukrainian forces to defend themselves. Because then the Russians can just shoot without being attacked in return," the NATO Secretary General pointed out.
And some allies have lifted restrictions, others have not. My message is that I think we should look at these restrictions now, because by having too many restrictions, we tie one hand on the back of the Ukrainian armed forces, because they lose the ability to defend themselves
At the same time, he reiterated that "these are national decisions, there is no NATO decision on restrictions, and there are different restrictions on different types of weapons." "So I am not saying that there will be absolutely no restrictions in the future, but I am saying that we need to consider these national restrictions, especially in light of the nature of the fighting that is now taking place in the Kharkiv region, where the Russians can be protected by a national border that is more or less the same as the front line," the NATO Secretary General concluded.