Ukraine's Ambassador to US explains why the US should allow Ukraine to strike Russia with their weapons

Ukraine is waging a defensive war and therefore should have the right to use partner-supplied weapons to strike places from which Russia launches its attacks, stated Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova.

"Well, first of all, you remember, we had this discussion for two years now. We have the right to defend ourselves. This – we are defending ourselves whether we are striking Russian troops on our territory or Russian troops outside of our territory," Markakova said in an interview with CBS News.

Markarova did not publicly discuss the current stage of Ukraine's discussions with the US or other partners on this issue. However, she emphasised that Russia is the aggressor.

"But I just want to say that it's clear that Russia is an aggressor here. … So, the UN rules, the international law and every other rule that exists in this country, which Russia violated, by the way, give us a clear right to defend ourselves by striking an aggressor, whether on our territory or where they're launching or starting the attack from," the ambassador explained.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine had asked US President Joe Biden's administration to help identify targets in Russia that Kyiv could strike with its own weapons. Ukraine has also asked the US to lift restrictions on the use of US-provided weapons on military targets in Russia.

During his visit to Kyiv last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken evaded answering media questions about whether the US was considering lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of US-provided weapons. 

"We’ve not encouraged or enabled strikes outside Ukraine but ultimately Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it's going to conduct this war," Blinken stated.