MADRID, May 27. /TASS/. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez does not support the idea of letting Ukraine use NATO weapons to hit targets on Russian soil.
At a news conference after talks with visiting Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the Spanish prime minister was asked whether Madrid would support the idea of Ukraine using Western weapons to attack Russian territory. "We have neither such will nor such intention and I certainly have no information about this," Sanchez said.
Those Western countries which are supplying weapons to Ukraine have differing views about how these weapons should be used. Thus, according to Pentagon Spokesman Patrick Ryder, the United States is against using US-made weapons outside Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly stressed that he objects to supplying Kiev with long-range Taurus cruise missiles because this would imply sending German troops to that country to control their use. This, in his words, is a red line he is reluctant to cross.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported, citing its sources, that after his recent visit to Kiev US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he planned to suggest that President Joe Biden lift the ban on using American weapons against targets in Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on May 26 that this kind of talk is a sign of the West’s desperation. Earlier, he said that Ukraine already uses US weapons to hit facilities in Russia, including infrastructure and dwelling quarters.