Why do some European and NATO leaders support Ukrainian strikes on Russia with Western arms?

Why do some European and NATO leaders support Ukrainian strikes on Russia with Western arms?

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has threatened serious consequences if Western countries allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike Targets in Russia so far most of ke’s Western suppliers have said their arms cannot be used to hit Targets on Russian soil but France’s president Emanuel Macon said this should be allowed in some cases Washington has ruled out such a possibility for us weapons the debate is intensifying as Russian forces appear to be gaining ground in eastern Ukraine Ukraine’s Second City har in the country’s Northeast in recent weeks increasingly a target of Russian attacks Russia also claims it has made territorial gains in the har region which borders Russia Ukrainian president volodimir zinsky has warned Russia is preparing an offensive against harke he says restrictions on Western weapons are crippling ke’s ability to defend itself they can fire any weapon from their territory at ours that’s the biggest advantage that Russia has but we can’t do anything to their systems which are located on Russian territory with Western weapons we don’t have that right but now NATO Chief Yan Stenberg is calling on members to lift those restrictions he says Ukraine should be allowed to use Western weapons to attack positions inside Russia some allies have lifted restrictions all allies have not uh my message is that I think we should now consider those restrictions because by having too many restrictions we are tying uh one hand of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on their back CU they’re not they’re reducing their capability to defend themselves the United States has already sent UK train its attack’s long range missiles seen here in file footage with a range of up to 300 km lifting restrictions would allow Ukraine to hit targets such as any troop buildup in the belgrad region where Russia is believed to be building an Airbase keev would also be able to attack supply lines to Russian controlled Crimea which are seen as critical for the kremlin’s war effort on a recent visit to keev British foreign secretary David Cameron said Ukraine could use weapons provided by London any way it sees fit including inside Russia but other partners including Germany are so far unwilling to Grant Ukraine that permission fearing it could increase the risk of direct confrontation with Moscow I’m not joined by our correspondent Roman garano in Kia for a moment how is this debate being viewed in Ukraine well um it is a very important it’s a survival issue actually for Ukraine that’s how it’s being debated because Ukraine has been asking its Western Partners to have that um possibility to strike Russia proper with Western weapons from the very beginning of Russian invasion in 2022 and the answer was always no because the West Was fearing escalation and um was trying to avoid even a small chance of it so Russia was very very um aggressive at that time threatening with nuclear weapons it’s doing the same now as well uh just remember a few days those nuclear drills with tactical nuclear weapons but um what’s really new now is is that Ukraine is being very vocal about it asking um Western Partners putting more pressure on the United States on other allies and partners in in Western um in in Western World to to to allow to strike Russia proper and the reason is um Ukraine is in a much weaker position now than it was just um half a year ago it is ex it’s Army it’s exhausted there is not enough ammunition not enough weapons and Russia is building up forces in the North in the har region as you’ve just heard in the report and there is a growing fear here in Ukraine that Russia might start a multiple attack in summer now Ukraine repeatedly attacks fuel Depots and Military airports in Russia what what kind of weapons does Ukraine use there well um there is not much information at least official information about that um Ukraine has been targeting critical infrastructure like like refineries uh and it has also been targeting reportedly um military targets like airfields um what’s what’s interesting uh those targets were hundreds of miles away from uh the Russian Ukrainian border so Ukraine was using mostly Soviet equipment um for for long distance distance attacks on Russian military airfields it used Soviet style drones it used also smaller modern drones own Ukrainian um manufactured drones when we talk about the Black Sea Ukraine is using completely its own developments and those sea drones in the Black Sea were very effective in the past months against the Russian black SE Fleet now Ukraine says it does not get enough weapons you’ve just touched upon this what’s the situation on the front line at the moment well I would say the pressure is slowly growing on the Ukrainian Army Ukrainian forces we have reports this morning from the Ukrainian military officials that Russia’s was able to have some small territorial gains in the region of donet uh towards the city of PK um there is also continue severe Fierce fighting in in the north Russian Ukrainian border har region in the town of V Chans which is very close to the Border where Russian forces were able to advance a few weeks ago and you ukrainians are trying to hold them back to regain some positions but uh it is still the situation is still can be describe that the Ukrainian forces are outgunned and outnumbered Roman Gano there reporting from Keith thank you very much Roman and Ben hodgers is a retired us Lieutenant General and the former commander of US forces in Europe and he joins me now in the studio welcome back to tww news so it’s a pleasure to have you with us um can we start with this pressure that is building to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike Russia including obviously weapons from from the US can I ask you if your take on that well of course it’s overdue um there’s no legal or moral or military reason to restrict Ukraine from using weapons for attacking Targets on the other side of the Russian border um and I think that there’s a growing recognition among European leaders that if Ukraine fails that Europe is going to be confronted with Uh Russian attack against NATO countries so it’s much better to do this now rather than have to confront it down the road which they will have to do and there’s also humanitarian part of this I mean they don’t want to be seen as standing by as every day Ukrainian civilians are murdered by Russian Artillery strikes so can and should the US give any ground here do you think that’s likely um I think it’s it’s eventual and that’s the way this has gone the last two years is because the administration the Biden Administration which has done well on so many aspects of this has failed the critical task of laying out the Strategic objective you therefore end up with policies that are not connected to an instate and so it seems like the the overriding concern is don’t provoke Russia and that’s why we are where we are and uh I think it’s terribly it’s terrible policy bad strategy which brings me very nicely to my next question because of course those who are against allowing Ukraine to use uh Western weapons to strike Russia worry about escalation we’ve heard President Putin suggesting that Western countries need to be careful about what it all might lead to how seriously should that be taken well of course you you have to take them seriously because they have thousands of nuclear weapons and because they clearly don’t care how many innocent people are killed including their own so it won’t be a moral decision by the Kremlin but I think there’s almost zero chance that they would use a new nuclear weapon because there’s no benefit to them to use a nuclear weapon the real benefit for Russia with their nukes is when they threaten the use because they see how we hesitate we deter ourself I think uh it’s extremely unlikely that they would use a nuclear weapon still I can’t dismiss it but I see no likelihood that they would actually do it if we can talk about what is actually happening in Ukraine right now it is a critical time um especially vulnerable given uh Russia’s recent recent P along the front lines particularly in the Northeast we know that the troops are depleted what do you make of where things stand right now I think it’s important to keep in context where we are after 10 years of war with Russia having every Advantage they still only control about 19% of Ukraine um they have not been able to significantly exploit any of their to Tactical successes like bakut last year or a diva back in February they’ve barely Advanced a few kilometers Beyond these places U what they’re doing now of course is they’re pushing their massed infantry against Ukrainian Defenders along uh in the vicinity of harke but it it’s clear to me that Russia does not have the ability to knock Ukraine out of the war they don’t possess that kind of capability so their only hope is to try to overwhelm Ukrainian Defenders with artillery and and infantry attacks and uh and wait for us to stop supporting Ukraine that’s I think that’s really their only hope so when people are dooming like oh my God Ukraine is is losing like wait a minute they went six months without getting any ammunition from us and the Russians could not even take advantage of that okay can I ask you your view on Germany’s LGH held uh position um on tourist cruise missiles um Chancellor Schultz has refused to provide a ke with them because he says they could potentially reach Moscow what do you think well of course they can’t reach Moscow um I think this is a bad policy decision by The bundes Counselor um I I think it’s tied to his concern that uh Germany does not have a nuclear weapon like France and the UK do um and he’s probably worried that uh if there’s a trump Administration that Germany would be without any sort of nuclear guarantee or or deterrent and so he’s extra hesitant but I think Germany is going to be confronted soon if Ukraine fails they’re going to be confronted with Millions more Ukrainian refugees coming into Germany and they’re going to be confronted with a Russian army that if it is successful will absorb hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian troops so it’s in Germany’s best interest that Ukraine defeats Russia in Ukraine retired us Lieutenant General Ben hudin thank you so much for your time today thanks for the privilege

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday spoke in favor of allowing Ukraine to attack Russian positions inside Russia with Western weapons. “We think that we should allow them to neutralize military sites where missiles are fired, from where … Ukraine is attacked,” Macron said at a joint press conference alongside the German chancellor following talks at Schloss Meseberg near Berlin, the official state guest house of the German Federal Republic. At the same time, he stressed that “we should not allow them to touch other targets in Russia, and obviously civilian capacities. “Macron’s comments came on the third and final day of a state visit to Germany.
Scholz was more cautious, but said he had no legal objections to Macron’s approach. He emphasized that as long as Ukraine respected international law and the conditions of countries supplying the weapons, it was “allowed to defend itself.” Germany and other countries have made the transfer of weapons to Ukraine subject to strict conditions, such as that they may not be used to attack targets in Russia over fears that would lead to an escalation. Scholz noted recently when saying Germany would not be sending long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine that they would be capable of striking Moscow from Ukrainian territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of “serious consequences” if Western countries allowed Ukraine to use their weapons to strike targets in Russia.

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