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A NATO ally has urged Ukraine to cross one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's so-called "red lines" as Kiev faces a shortage of battlefield weapons.
Putin has repeatedly warned NATO countries that they risk escalating the war if they give Kiev weapons capable of reaching targets inside Russia. Despite the threats, such weapons were given to Ukraine, with no sign of retaliation from Putin.
Finland, which joined NATO last year despite Putin's opposition to expanding the strategic alliance and citing concerns about the invasion of Ukraine, approved a new $205 million military aid package for Ukraine earlier this month. Newsweek reported.
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said Ukraine could use weapons provided by Finland to attack targets inside Russia, The Kyiv Independent reports.
Hakkanen noted that Ukraine's other allies have provided "long-range missile systems" and that they have the right to "specify how they should be used." He then called on Germany to send its long-range Taurus missiles to Kiev "if they want to help Ukraine win". Finnish parliament member Jukka Kopra reportedly went a step further, saying that Ukraine "should" use Finnish-supplied weapons to attack "military targets on the Russian side".
"Otherwise, these military facilities will hit the Ukrainian side. This is an absolutely legal defensive war that Ukraine is waging. The UN Charter allows attacking military targets across land borders," Kopra said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made similar comments, saying Ukraine has the legal right to attack "legitimate military targets" in Russia with Western-supplied weapons.
"According to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense. And that also includes attacks on legitimate military targets, Russian military targets outside of Ukraine. This is international law and, of course, Ukraine has the right to defend itself," Stoltenberg said.
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