MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. Ukrainian media outlets have reported that ten Western countries are allegedly poised to allow Kiev to conduct strikes on Russia with Western-supplied weapons.
The Liga. Novosti website said that the UK, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Estonia were among these ten countries. The media outlet briefly recounted statements made in May by various officials from those countries without quoting them directly, in order to justify this "readiness."
In addition, the outlet reported that the United States traditionally supported the ban in this issue. On Tuesday, White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that there was no change to the US policy at this point regarding the use of US-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia.
Nevertheless, in the wake of recent statements by Warsaw and Paris, the news that ten countries "have allowed Ukraine to use their weapons to strike inside Russia" grabbed headlines in Ukraine. In particular, the Insider relayed the news after Liga. Novosti, and was followed by Sergey Leshchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office, who wrote about such "permission" from ten countries on his Telegram channel.
Possibility of strikes on Russian territory
On May 28, during his visit to Germany, French President Emmanuel Macron called for letting Kiev attack military facilities on Russian territory with Western weapons. However, in his words, the Western-supplied weapons can be used against facilities from which missiles are launched into Ukraine, but must not be used against civilian facilities and those military facilities that are not involved in the special military operation. On May 29, Poland's Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said that the Polish authorities were okay with Ukraine using weapons supplied by Warsaw for strikes against facilities inside Russia.
On May 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that when speaking about strikes inside Russia, representatives of NATO countries, "should be aware of what they are playing with." According to Putin, Russia is closely monitoring such a discussion. Once Ukraine’s military uses long-range weapons, Moscow will once again have to decide on 'a sanitary zone,' Putin 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.