NATO Parliamentary Assembly calls for Ukraine to be allowed to strike Russia with Western-supplied weapons

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly has urged the governments of the Alliance’s member states to allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets in the Russian Federation.

Yehor Cherniev, Head of the Ukrainian Parliament's Permanent Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA), noted that the decision was pushed through at the last moment, as the original version of the declaration passed by the NATO PA members did not contain this paragraph.

"The NATO Parliamentary Assembly has urged Allied governments to give Ukraine permission to use Western weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation. This is about lifting certain restrictions on hitting legitimate targets deep inside Russia," the lawmaker said.

From now on, parliamentarians will have legal grounds to put even more pressure on their governments to implement the decision, Cherniev said.

The text of the declaration urges Allied governments to "support Ukraine in its international right to defend itself by lifting some restrictions on the use of weapons provided by NATO Allies to strike legitimate targets in Russia". 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged the allies to reconsider the restrictions on Ukraine striking Russia with Western weapons amid border fighting in Kharkiv Oblast.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposes the idea of authorising Ukraine to use weapons provided by Western allies to strike Russia.