SOFIA, May 27. /TASS/. Kiev should be allowed to attack Russian territory with Western weapons because ‘this is self-defense’ in response to Russian advances near Kharkov, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the alliance’s Parliamentary Assembly.
"It’s up for allies to decide on what conditions they deliver weapons to Ukraine. It’s not a NATO decision, it’s a decision made by individual allies. But I have said that the time has come to consider whether it will be right to lift some of the restrictions which have been imposed. Because we see now that especially in the Kharkov Region, the front line and the border line are more or less the same. And of course, if Kiev cannot attack military targets on Russian territory, then it ties one hand of Ukrainians behind their back and makes it very hard for them to conduct defense. Because they are attacked from Russian territory with missiles, with airstrikes, with artillery, and it’s hard for them to respond because of the restrictions on some of the weapons they could use. And we have to remember what it is: this is self-defense. <…> Some allies have lifted restrictions, enabling the Ukrainians to better defend themselves, and I think the time has come to also consider lifting other restrictions to help self-defense within the limitations of international law," the NATO chief said. He added that 99% of weapons are supplied to Kiev by NATO countries.