Ukraine should be granted the right to strike Russian territory using Western weapons without range restrictions. This will aid in effectively defending itself, states Adm. Rob Bauer heads the NATO Military Committee.
Bauer supported the permission for strikes on Russia using Western weapons from several countries. He explained his position with military logic.
"In the law of armed conflict, there are no limits in terms of the range. So, militarily, again, if the target is deeper into Russia... Then militarily you want to target it, for example, aircraft that take off from an airfield deeper into Russia," he said.
According to him, increasing the range of Ukrainian weaponry has complicated the logistical support for Russian forces.
"And if you push back the Russians deeper into Russia, that will make the fight more difficult for them," he noted.
He also emphasized that the West must not succumb to blackmail from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"So, we have to be careful not to jump time and time again into this idea that everything is a red line, that everything is an escalation. Because Putin has been lying about basically everything," he believes.
Permission to carry out strikes on Russian territory
At the end of May, it became known that several countries allowed Ukraine to use provided weapons to strike Russian territory. However, the weapons were permitted to be used only in the border regions of Russia.
Later, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the permission to strike Russia was communicated by the US through military channels.
It is also known that Ukraine has already used US weapons for strikes on Russia.