Ukraine allowed to use Western weapons in striking targets within 100km inside Russia | DW News

Ukraine allowed to use Western weapons in striking targets within 100km inside Russia | DW News

following Russia’s spring offensive with Ukraine’s Second City hake in the crosshairs NATO Partners gave keev the green light to use the weapons they provided inside Russian territory up to a point that has helped stall moscow’s offensive which some analysts see as a turning point the aftermath of Russian shelling in the harke region in early May initial gains by Russian forces seemed to catch Ukraine off guard and raised fears that Ukraine’s Second City har could be in danger potentially Paving the way for another attempt to seize keev it’s thought that moscow’s strategy may have been to force Ukraine to move its forces from the embattle town of chivar on the Eastern front to the harv region in the north to enable a breakthrough in the donet region president vomir zalinski vowed har would not be allowed toight and appealed to ke’s Western allies to drop some of their limits on the use of missiles on Russian territory in response Ukraine’s Western backers including the United States and Germany lifted some of their weapons restrictions previously seen as a red line the US said keev could now fire americanmade long-range missiles known as attacks across the border into Russian territory where many troops are stationed directly on the other side some analysts say it’s been one of the bloodiest campaigns in Russia’s war on Ukraine with up to hundreds of poorly trained Russian soldiers being killed every day but while Ukraine and its allies focused on preventing Hari from falling Russian forces did make advances in the East forcing the withdrawal of some Ukrainian troops from chivar still keev has demonstrated it can adapt quickly maintaining its defenses and preventing Russia from making deeper territorial gains more on this we can talk to Gustaf gresle now he’s a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and is currently here in Berlin welcome to the program Gustaf first of all give us your assessment of how Ukraine and Russia are currently positioned on the battlefield does Ukraine have what it needs to defend itself and push Russia back well the the Russians some offensive uh or the the major offensive for this year is still going on um I would not yet call uh Ukraine being on the other side of the Hill uh I I guess they will have some two three months still where they have to train their new recruit uh recruits and Personnel is quite quite scratched uh but Ukraine has has pattered the Russian offensive quite well so far uh some minor mishaps but they were minor and yeah by by Autumn of course the tide uh could could stall I would say but the the thing is of course Western assistance uh is good for the end of the year or into the spring but then we have the US Presidential and legislative elections and we’ll have to see where International assistance goes from there and that’s bit of the the unknown but for now yes given the circumstances things look better now at that NATO Summit in Washington that just wrapped up Ukraine was told that its path to Nato membership was quote irreversible but Kei was not given a timeline for joining NATO without such a timeline commitment can we really say that ke’s NATO membership prospects have improved not really because the principle of the open door has been there since um ever basic basically and if we remember back the infamous Bucharest Summit declaration that Georgia and Ukraine would join NATO but just not now at at a not defined point in the future is pretty much the same well on the other hand um a political invitation uh with a clause that if conditions are met would be of course a stronger signal but of course in practice Ukraine knows that as long as the war is ongoing in the current phase uh NATO membership is uh pretty difficult to achieve even thereafter but uh the signal of course uh to the Ukrainian population um that is that is the important thing these days Ukraine fights for its independence and fights for its sovereignty Ukraine had try to choose a different path than a Russian satellite for decades and uh they see NATO membership as kind of the long-term proof seal and security guarantee that they will not be ever again a Russian satellite um and that’s what sort of the the reason people die for they don’t die for any particular president or for a political party they die for their kids uh growing up in a country that has chosen the path of Independence and hence I think the stronger the signal these days the better now NATO members at that Summit have pledged to step up delivery of F-16 fighter Chets to Ukraine how important are those Jets for Ukraine they’re very very important the air war is basically one of the under reported sides of this whole War um we have seen a devastating missile attack a few days ago uh these cruise missiles can be intercepted by fighter patrols if Ukraine has enough fighters in the air to cope with them unfortunately because their current Soviet era Fighters are very much worn out and they lack missiles for these Fighters they don’t have sufficient fighter Patrols in the air to to cope with their defensive counter a duties the other thing is of course then uh to keep Russian fighter bombers away from Ukrainian airspace that’s an important task and for all these tasks is roughly estimated that Ukraine needs about 80 operable Fighters uh and we are unfortunately uh very much below that Benchmark now Ukraine has been given permission to use some of its Western weapons to strike Russian targets within a limited range of the Border inside of Russia talk to us about that limitation how significant is it well for Ukraine the lifting of the previous limitation not to strike Russia at all was tremendously important because Russia has been a sanctuary now of course they have a 100 kilm range limit and of course all the targets they St like inside Russia with Western weapons they are pre arranged with a us and soon NATO command in Germany uh that that agrees on the targets to be struck now uh the the kind of individual uh Target coordination thing that works pretty well and I think this limitation is not a problem the range limitation for Ukraine is a problem especially when we look at air bases a lot of the Glide bombs attack Russia conducts out flowing from air bases inside Russia relatively close to Ukraine from Rondon uh vonos belgaro this area and uh here of course Ukraine would love to strike these air bases to move the Russian Fighters further away because the further away Russian Fighters are stationed uh the more time they have to spend flying in and out the theater uh and can’t fly so many salties a day and that would of course ease the pressure on Ukrainian front lines but also on cities close to the border that are bombarded by Glide bombs pretty much on a daily basis do you think that 100 kilometer limitation will be uh broadened that Ukraine might eventually be given permission to strike deeper into Russia I think it will I I have to say that all these kind of General limitations make no military sense uh you have to look at what’s going on what Russia is preparing how much a given Target plays a role in Ukraine’s defenses and then have to wait the risk of allowing Ukraine to strike it versus the risk of allowing the target to be there and do its stuff and whether you do that whether you wait the risk on a Target that is 30 kilometers away or 250 kilometers a may it doesn’t really matter uh and I think the the target coordination uh that has been put in place with the ukrainians since the beginning of the delivery of Rocket artillery systems has worked for over two years uh and ukrainians have honored their previous commitments uh they know that if they don’t they don’t get any supplies of these missile systems anymore so of course they have a reason to honor that and I think this kind of case by case judgment is the best way to go all these kind of General assumptions basically just give the Russians an idea where to Bas base their ammunition and missile systems to be outside the strike range and do whatever they do and want to do uh and be uh be and sort of force us into a debate on perceived Russian red lines that we we have to cross again and again and again and again Gustaf thank you very much for talking with us today that was Gustaf gresle a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations thank you very much a joint statement by NATO’s 32 members says that Ukraine is on a quote irreversible path to membership at the alliance’s 75th Anniversary Summit they also pledged 40 billion EUR of Aid to keev next year but most of that Aid is set to come from the Block’s largest member the US and with NATO skeptic Donald Trump challenging President Biden in November’s election there’s no Assurance of long-term funding with the Spectre of a Donald Trump presidency looming large over Washington NATO leaders move to futur prooof the military Alliance top of their list Ukraine which Trump has threatened to cut support for if reelected we will increase our support for Ukraine by establishing a NATO coordination and security assistance and training for Ukraine and by ensuring a sustained support for the long term the plan includes minimum funding of 40 billion EUR in military within the next year it also includes a new Command Center in Germany to coordinate training and weapons deliveries but there’s also short-term relief on the horizon and I’m also pleased to announce that as we speak the transfer of F-16 Jets is underway coming from Denmark coming from the Netherlands and those Jets those Jets will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer to make make sure that Ukraine can continue to effectively defend itself against the Russian aggression good evening everyone however members stop short of extending a clear invite to join the alliance as Ukraine continues its vital reforms we continue to support them on their irreversible path to Nato membership the work we are doing together now will ensure that when the time is right Ukraine can join without delay it is not a question of if but when members sought to send a message of power and resolve to both friends and foes as NATO grapples with the likelihood of losing its most senior leader let’s get some analysis now from Ian lesser he’s a distinguished fellow at the German Marshall fund and his areas of expertise include US foreign policy and NATO thanks for being with us Dr ler NATO Chief Yen stoltenberg says Ukraine’s path to membership in the alliance is irreversible what does that really mean well it’s essentially um a strong repetition of what the alliance has said for the last years to ke um there there’s not a time frame and that may disappoint some uh but irreversible is a pretty strong word to use uh there of course there are conditions that associated with this that have to do with reform in Ukraine but also I think for many allies simply the end of the war or or at least a ceasefire because it would be very difficult to Envision membership for Ukraine and all the commitments that go along with that under conditions of war and and that’s what we have at the moment now NATO has announced the establishment of a new Command Center for Ukraine here in Germany how will that enhance operational capabilities do you think well you know over the last years most of uh the coordination of Aid that’s been sent to Ukraine has been done by the United States through the Rin process also in Germany uh and there’s a desire to shift more of this to Nato I mean partly I think to satisfy the American debate about burden sharing but also in in a sense to make this a more Collective exercise and to put the framework in place for Europe to do more uh part of that’s unease about whether the American commitment will be as steady in the future but part of it is simply about being more efficient and I think that’s what the alliance has in mind with this new Command Center you mentioned a commitment in the future many are concerned that Donald Trump May return to the US Presidency how might a potential Trump presidency affect NATO support for Ukraine well of course you know former president Trump as a candidate has said uh quite a bit about this he is very keen to see more Allied commitment to Europe’s own defense and he’s in a sense skeptical about the current approach to Ukraine uh whether anything changes in that regard is not entirely clear if he were to be elected but even if he isn’t elected whatever the outcome uh there is going to be an intensifying debate about how to support Ukraine in what way who should be doing it uh and what to expect and I think in the near term what we have regardless of Politics on both sides of the alliance and of course there are critics in Europe too as we know within the alliance in Hungary not least but also some elsewhere um that the alliance concentrates on strengthening Ukraine’s defense and in a sense deferring this question of U NATO membership for Ukraine talk to us Dr lesing about China in relation to Nato uh it’s increasingly a focus of attention for the alliance at the summit the alliance accused Beijing of being what it calls a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine and demanded that China halt delivery of weapons components what do you make of that well I think it reflects a a generalized anxiety on both sides of the Atlantic about the role that China is playing and China is repeatedly said that it’s not delivering um offensive weapons to Russia that may or may not be true others like Iran uh and North Korea definitely are but clearly China has become a leading conduit and also source for the high-tech uh and other materials that would be needed for for Russia to support its war effort and and there’s a lot of focus on that think you know the fact that China figures prominently in the commun that was issued from the summit yesterday um reflects this the last Summit in villus started to talk more seriously about China as a systemic challenge to NATO allies this Summit clearly goes much further well while NATO leaders were meeting there in Washington China was holding joint military exercises with bellus just across the border from NATO member Poland is that timing do you think a coincidence I suspect it isn’t a coincidence uh but I think the real focus is not so much uh China acting somehow in in Europe or in Ukraine’s neighborhood it’s more about this this uh more distant but very important supply of technology and knoow and other things to Russia uh at the moment but also for the next years and behind that too I think there is you know a a rather sharp uh debate about what the rise of China means for Europe European and American Security and that’s become a tougher debate on both sides of the Atlantic I mean just to say there aren’t too many things that Democrats and Republicans agree on in Washington these days a tougher line on China is clearly one of them Dr ler thank you very much for talking with us today that was Ian ler distinguished fellow at the German Marshall fund talking to us from Brussels good to be with you

A joint statement by NATO’s 32 members says that Ukraine is on a quote ‘irreversible’ path to membership. At the alliance’s 75th anniversary summit, they also pledged 40 billion euros of aid to Kyiv next year. But most of that aid is set to come from the bloc’s largest member, the US. And with NATO-sceptic Donald Trump challenging President Biden in November’s election, there’s no assurance of long-term funding.
For more on this, we cross over to Brussels and speak with Ian Lesser. He’s a Distinguished Fellow at the German Marshall Fund and his areas of expertise include US foreign policy and NATO.

We also talk to Gustav Gressel, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, he joins us from Berlin.

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