Little strokes fell great oaks – Polish foreign minister on authorisation for Ukraine to strike deep in Russia

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said that sooner or later Ukraine will receive permission from its allies to strike with Western weapons at targets deep into the territory of the Russian Federation.

Commenting on the still controversial issue of the use of Western weapons by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to strike Russian territory, Sikorski said: "Little strokes fell great oaks."

"We have already had many such discussions. About Leopard (tanks), about Western equipment in general, about F-16s... In my opinion, Ukraine has the right and should be able to shoot down aircraft and attack the airfields from which they take off," he said in an interview with RMF24.

When asked whether Western politicians fear what Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin will do if NATO allows Ukraine to do more, Sikorsky replied, "No."

"I don't see Putin holding back. Except for the fact that he hasn't used nuclear weapons yet, I think he is using everything he has. Including the giant bombs he uses to destroy civilian settlements. All the atrocities he is capable of are already being used on the battlefield," the Polish foreign minister said.

During a meeting with his counterparts from the European Union, Sikorski asked to lift the restrictions imposed by their countries on Ukraine's use of long-range weapons.

During the NATO summit, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope that the United States would lift all restrictions on strikes on Russian territory, which would protect Ukrainian cities from attacks by guided bombs.

He later said that Ukraine was gradually changing the West's position on strikes on military targets in Russia's rear and was already receiving "positive signals" to expand the permission to use weapons from Western allies.