NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responded to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin's threats of "serious consequences" if the West allows Ukraine to strike with its weapons inside Russia, pointing out that this is part of an effort by Putin and Moscow to prevent NATO allies from supporting Ukraine to defend themselves. He said this on Friday before an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague, writes UNN.
Well, this is nothing new. Allies have for many years, or since this war started back in 2022, accepted that their weapons are used also for strikes against legitimate targets inside [Russia]. For instance, United Kingdom has provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles for a long time without any restrictions. So this has been the case for a long time. It has always been the case for a long time that every time NATO Allies are providing support to Ukraine, President Putin is trying to threaten us not to do that. The day of the invasion, he gave a speech where he threatened all countries that were going to provide any support to Ukraine, that that was dangerous and that will have consequences. And that has been the message every time we have made decisions to deliver long range artillery, HIMARS, advanced battle tanks, cruise missiles or F 16 fighter jets. So this is part of the efforts by president Putin, by Moscow to prevent NATO allies from supporting Ukraine to defend themselves
According to him, Ukraine has the right to self-defense, and NATO allies have the right to help Ukraine uphold their right for self-defence. "And that does not make NATO Allies party to the conflict. That was the case back in February 2022. That was the case last year, and that remains the case. And escalation - well, it's Russia that has escalated by invading another country, and Russia has escalated just last week by opening a new front, where they are hitting Ukraine from inside Russia. Of course, to assume that Ukraine should not hit back is in no way reasonable, because Ukraine must be able to defend their territory - also, of course by hitting the artillery, the missiles (...), "Stoltenberg said.