Austria insists Ukraine's Western sponsors have 'crossed red lines'
Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner has criticized Western sponsors for allowing Kiev to use their weapons to attack Russia.
In an interview with Die Presse on June 8, Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner said that Ukraine's Western sponsors had gone too far by allowing Kiev to use their weapons to attack targets in Russia.
According to RT, some NATO members have openly supported the use of Western-made weapons for cross-border attacks against Russia in recent weeks, citing limited scope.
The West insists it remains a non-party to the conflict and only supports Kiev's efforts to prevent Russia from entering the Kharkiv region, a move Moscow says is aimed at moving the demarcation line away from the border area to prevent further Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilians.
Asked about the US, France and Germany allowing their weapons to be used in cross-border attacks, Austria's Minister Tanner declared: “The red line has been crossed.”
Asked how else Kiev could have stopped the Kharkiv operation, the Austrian Defense Minister replied that “as a militarily neutral country, we are not in a position to judge.”
The Austrian defense minister added that she was at least “pleased that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has made clear that NATO will not send troops to Ukraine.”
Mr. Stoltenberg announced that the US-led military bloc has no plans to deploy ground forces to Ukraine at a press conference on June 6.
Despite this, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on June 7 that he was almost ready to finalize an international coalition to formally send Western military “instructors” to train Kiev forces in Ukraine.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that Moscow has long known that Western soldiers are fighting in Ukraine under the guise of "mercenaries" and "volunteers".
The Russian president said last month that Western-made long-range weapons used by Kiev in cross-border attacks are often controlled and maintained by foreign militaries. Even if Ukrainian citizens pull the trigger, Putin noted, the United States and its allies are still providing Kiev with intelligence on targets in Russia.
Moscow has warned that Western-backed long-range strikes on Russian territory would mean direct Western involvement in the conflict and that Russia could respond accordingly. The Russian leader said on June 5 that Moscow could supply similar weapons around the world where they could be used against Western targets.
