The use of Western weapons given to Kiev on Russian soil is now cleared through customs. Most of the NATO allies have come out and given the green light to Ukraine’s ability to strike the strategic sites across the border from which Moscow is intensifying its attacks. US Secretary Antony Blinken confirmed yesterday’s indiscretions: President Joe Biden gave an affirmative response to a specific request from Kiev, given the difficulties that the Kharkiv region is facing.
Support must adapt to the situation on the ground, is the message from Washington. Yes also from Germany, Holland, Sweden, in addition to the others who had expressed their opinions in recent days. No from Spain and Italy. “We will not send any Italian soldier to fight on Ukrainian territory, just as our weapons cannot be used outside Ukrainian territory because this is prevented by Article 11 of the Constitution”, reiterated Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, upon his arrival at the informal NATO foreign ministerial meeting in Prague.
“Self-defense is not escalation. Self-defense is a fundamental right enshrined in the United Nations Charter”, underlines NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. If anything, the one causing the escalation is Moscow which intensifies attacks in the Kharkiv region, where, according to Russian sources, Moscow’s forces forced the Ukrainian forces to retreat 8-9 kilometres.
“Western weapons are used by Ukraine to damage civilian infrastructure and civilians in Russia,” said Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov. On the part of the West «there is an absolute escalation. They are deliberately fomenting pre-war hysteria,” remarked Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “All this, obviously, can only have a very negative impact on the general situation.” With his inflammatory rhetoric, the vice-president of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, denounces that “the current military conflict with the West is developing according to the worst-case scenario”, warning that “no one today can exclude the transition of the conflict to final phase”.
According to the former Russian prime minister, Western politicians “could misjudge the issue of Russia’s use of tactical nuclear weapons”, they must not underestimate it. The Atlantic Alliance, meanwhile, is preparing for the July 9-11 Summit in Washington, which will give rise to new commitments for Ukraine. «The paradox is that the more we prepare for the long term, the sooner the war can end. Russia must understand that it cannot wait”, highlighted Stoltenberg, asking the allies for support of 40 billion a year for Kiev – which is the annual amount spent so far – for as long as necessary. This will ensure predictability, as well as the prospect of NATO membership. «We agree that Ukraine’s future lies in NATO. We are determined to make progress in defining this path. Membership will be Ukraine’s definitive security guarantee.”
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