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NATO chief: countries should reconsider restricting Ukraine's use of military
aid in strikes against Russia

by VOA News

   NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that governments
   should reconsider prohibitions against Ukraine using military aid to
   target Russia forces on Russia soil, saying the limits are reducing the
   ability of Ukrainian forces to defend themselves.

   Speaking during a visit to Bulgaria, Stoltenberg said Russia's invasion
   that began in early 2022 is a violation of international law, and that
   Ukraine has a right to defend itself, including striking "legitimate
   targets outside of Ukraine."

   "We see this very clearly demonstrated now in the fighting in Kharkiv,"
   Stoltenberg said. "The Russian forces are on Russia territory
   attacking, just over the border, Ukrainian territory. The front line is
   more or less the border line, and if you cannot attack the Russian
   forces on 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 the Ukrainian forces to defend themselves."

   Stoltenberg reiterated that NATO itself is not a party to the conflict,
   while saying NATO allies have the right to help Ukraine uphold its
   right to self-defense by providing military support.

   The NATO chief's comments came hours after Ukrainian President
   Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for Ukraine's partners to "support
   preemptive protection against Russian terrorists," in reference to
   policies from countries such as the United States barring Ukraine from
   using U.S.-provided weapons to strike targets inside of Russia.

   "A type of protection that would be provided against any terrorists who
   would be hit and destroyed before they could begin to destroy life,"
   Zelenskyy said. "We can see every point where Russian troops are
   concentrated. We know all areas from which Russian missiles are
   launched and combat aircraft take off."

   U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told VOA last week
   that the United States does not "enable such strikes beyond Ukraine's
   borders," but that Ukraine makes its own decisions about arms provided
   by others.

   "Ukraine is a sovereign country, and they will have to make their own
   determinations when it comes to using weapons that they have acquired
   elsewhere or that they have built or that they have produced
   themselves, such as some of the drones that they produce, that you've
   seen them use," Miller said.

   Officials in western Russia said Monday Ukrainian drones hit a fuel
   station, killing at least one person and injuring three others.

   Andrey Klychkov, the regional governor of Oryol, said the attack
   happened in the city of Livny.

   Russia's defense ministry said Monday its air defenses destroyed six
   Ukrainian drones over Oryol, as well as four over the Krasnodar region,
   one over Belgorod and another over Bryansk.

   Veniamin Kondratyev, Krasnodar's governor, reported damage to a
   building and a fire from drone debris falling on two villages in the
   region.

   Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence
   France-Presse and Reuters.

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