Last week, Washington granted Ukraine limited permission to use weapons supplied by the West to strike some military targets on Russian territory, as part of Kiev’s efforts to repel attacks on the eastern Kharkiv region.
“It is not 100 percent approval. It comes with some provisions that must be followed,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a press conference with his Estonian counterpart, Margus Tskana.
“We will continue to work with our allies to expand its scope,” he added.
The issue has deeply divided Ukraine’s supporters, with some reluctant to allow it to launch cross-border strikes, fearing it would drag them into direct conflict with Moscow.
Kuleba also said that Russia is using a three-pronged approach to discourage countries from participating in the Ukraine peace summit to be held in Switzerland later this month.
He stressed that Russia aims to discredit the summit, persuade countries not to participate, and urge countries that want to participate to send low-level representatives.
“These attempts to disrupt the summit are systematic and on an unprecedented scale, which once again confirms that we are doing everything right,” Kuleba said.
He pointed out that Russian efforts focused on countries in Asia, Africa and South America.
The Kremlin has repeatedly said that any talks on ensuring peace in Ukraine must include Russia, which was not invited to the summit.
He also issued veiled threats to countries that allowed Ukrainian forces to strike Russia with weapons prov
ided by Kiev’s allies.
Russia warns
For his part, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the United States may face “serious consequences” if it ignores Moscow’s warnings not to allow Ukraine to use weapons provided by Washington to strike targets inside Russia.
The Russian Information Agency quoted Ryabkov as saying, “I would like to warn American leaders against the consequences of miscalculations that could have serious consequences… They are, for unknown reasons, underestimating the seriousness of the response they may receive.”
He referred to statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, in which he said that NATO countries were playing with fire and risking a larger global conflict, which was one of a series of warnings from Moscow about the risk of escalation.
He added that Putin issued “a very important warning that must be taken very seriously.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the weekend that Kiev is grateful to Washington for allowing it to use the Hymars missile systems it supplied to it in the Kharkiv region, but he pointed out that they are insufficient.
Russian news agencies quoted Ryabkov as saying that Kiev’s attempts to attack Russian early warning radar systems will be confronted, and that Moscow may respond disproportionately to such steps.
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