PRAGUE - NATO foreign ministers gathered in Prague on Thursday in the face of growing calls for leading allies to lift restrictions stopping Kyiv from using Western weapons to strike inside Russia. The two-day meeting in the Czech capital is meant to focus on efforts to hammer out a package of support for Ukraine at NATO’s summit in Washington in July.
But the swirling debate over whether to let Kyiv use arms sent by Western backers to strike inside Russia risks overshadowing the talks.
Ukraine has been pressing its supporters -- chiefly the United States -- to allow it to use the longer-range weaponry they supply to hit targets on Russian soil.
Some countries including Britain and the Netherlands say Kyiv has the right to use their weapons to strike military targets in Russia.
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide added his support Thursday, telling NRK television that Kyiv should not have to fight “with one hand tied behind its back”.
But the United States and Germany have so far refused to permit Kyiv to strike over the border out of fear it could drag them closer to direct conflict with Moscow.
Ahead of the NATO meeting, which starts with a dinner on Thursday, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said repeatedly it was time for members to reconsider those limits because they hampered Kyiv’s ability to defend itself. French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to shift the dial forward on Tuesday when he said Ukraine should be allowed to “neutralise” bases in Russia used to launch strikes.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, remained less committal, saying Ukraine should act within the law -- and Berlin had not supplied weapons that could hit Russia anyway. Across the Atlantic, the White House said it still opposed Ukraine using US arms to strike inside Russia, though Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted that strategy could change. Moscow, meanwhile, has reacted strongly, with President Vladimir Putin warning there would be “serious consequences” if Western countries give approval to Ukraine.
“NATO member states, the United States, and capitals in Europe in recent days and weeks have been entering a new round of escalations in tensions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. Those pressing for Ukraine to be given a freer rein say they hope momentum is building for Washington and others to change course as Kyiv struggles to stop Russia’s offensive in the Kharkiv region.
“I understand the concerns, I understand that there are weapon systems which can be used quite far away,” said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky. “But I feel that we are even moving on that in the international sphere,” he said.
