NATO confirms - forget about Putins "red lines"

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview that Ukraine has the right to use its Western-supplied weapons to defend itself against Russia, even if that includes striking targets within Russia's borders.

"Under international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense. And this also includes attacks against legitimate military targets, Russian military targets outside Ukraine," Stoltenberg said in an interview with Radio Liberty

Lest there be any doubt about the meaning of stepping over this red line, a Nato official confirmed to the Financial Times that Stoltenberg said Kyiv had the right to self-defence, including by striking legitimate Russian military targets outside Ukraine.

Putin has repeatedly warned that Ukraine cannot use Western-supplied weaponry to attack in Russia, as it "could risk escalating the conflict." These warnings have led to some delays in arms deliveries, as is the case with the United States. But other NATO allies have not hesitated to continue supplying armaments to Ukraine.

Why did it come up again? The looming F-16s delivery most likely

After the recent downing of a Ilyushin II-76 in Belgorod, Rusia claimed that it was done with an Patriot air defense system, and therefore Ukraine would be using Western supplied weapon system to strike outside of the country.

But Stoltenberg's comments represent a step up in rhetoric, as he has previously referred to Ukraine’s rights under international law without explicitly mentioning attacks on Russian territory.

In recent months Ukraine has stepped up strikes on military targets inside Russia with drones and long-range missiles, including an oil depot used by the Russian army near St Petersburg.

The debate over using western weapons to strike Russia is likely to intensify as some Nato allies begin to ship F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, as they could significantly increase the potential range of Kyiv’s strikes into Russian territory, if armed with long-range missiles.

In online searches for news there are already popping up obviously ruZZian induced warnings that can be easily spotted by the wording in their articles and head-lines about 'NATO is giving Kyiv the green light to attack Russia' or 'NATO is risking to escalate the conflict'.
Thereby ignoring completely who is escalating the conflict since 2014 and especially in the last two years.

@freerussia_report