EU discusses possibility of allowing Ukraine to use NATO weapons to attack Russia
(BNA) - Besides discussing the possibility of allowing Ukraine to use NATO weapons to attack Russia, the foreign ministers also discussed providing more air defense systems.
According to Russia's TASS news agency, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said that EU foreign ministers at a meeting on May 27 discussed lifting restrictions preventing Ukraine from using NATO weapons to attack Russia inside Russian territory.
“We discussed… more air defence systems, in particular more Patriot systems, as well as the lifting of restrictions on the use of Western weapons against Russian troops in Russia. This is an increasingly heated debate,” Borrell told a news conference after a European Council meeting in Brussels.
According to Mr. Borrell, the EU understands that Ukraine must resist attacks from Russia.
“A number of member states have lifted restrictions so that the Ukrainians can use our military support to respond to Russian attacks from Russian territory,” he said.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg suggested in an interview with the Economist that NATO allies should reconsider whether Ukraine should be allowed to use Western weapons to attack military sites on internationally recognized Russian territory. At the same time, the NATO chief said at a session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly that NATO member states should not deploy troops on the ground or in the air in Ukraine, otherwise it would be difficult to keep the alliance out of the conflict.
