In an interview with CNN on Monday, Rinkevics claimed that Russian advances in Kharkov Region were "a consequence of our inability to provide Ukraine with weapons," and restrictions prohibiting the use of Western arms to launch strikes deep into Russian territory.
"There is no rational pragmatic reason not to allow Ukraine to use those weapons against Russia in a way that is the most efficient. Those countries that have put restrictions [on the use of] their weapons should reconsider their decision.His remarks come after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg last week urged Western donors of longer-range weapons to allow attacks against targets located inside Russia. In an interview with The Economist, he said the "time has come" for the US-led military bloc's allies to reconsider such restrictions.
"The weapons were not provided directly by NATO or the EU but by member states, some of which supplied Kiev with arms on the condition that they would not be used to strike Russia. The Latvian government does not attach any restrictions to weapons it provides to Kiev."
Stoltenberg's comments were met with harsh criticism from some NATO member states. Senior Italian officials, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, rejected his public calls for a policy change. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini described the NATO chief as a "dangerous gentleman" following his proposal.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that Stoltenberg did not have the authority to speak on behalf of the bloc members before this issue was discussed within NATO.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted that Kiev could strike targets in Russia with Western weapons. During what he called a "sobering" visit to Kiev, Blinken said:
"We have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine, but ultimately Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it's going to conduct this war."Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky has called for increased NATO involvement in the conflict and has argued that the West should not fear Russia's reaction. Moscow believes that Zelensky's goal is to trigger an escalation of the conflict in order to maintain his position.
Reader Comments
So nothing to see here. Just another political hack taking an opportunity, and a liberty.
Any idiot with an IQ of over 4 can work out that there are plenty of rational and very pragmatic reasons not to allow Ukraine to use those weapons - even as they are already using some of the smaller ones.
But the Baltic leaders are becoming well known for their lack of intellect and feeble threats.