NATO chief says Kiev is free to use F-16 fighter jets to attack Russian targets 'outside Ukraine'

According to Reuters, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg invoked Ukraine's right to self-defense even against extraterritorial attacks.

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged that the use of Western-supplied weapons to attack targets in Russia has long been a point of contention among Ukraine's allies. (Source: Getty Images)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that after Ukraine receives F-16 fighter jets, the country will be free to use them to attack military targets inside Russian territory.

Mr Stoltenberg's comments came in an interview with Radio Free Europe .

Ukraine has the right to attack “Russian military targets outside Ukraine” in accordance with international law, the NATO Secretary General has said for the first time since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

Jens Stoltenberg, earlier this week, acknowledged that the use of Western-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia had long been a point of contention among Kiev's allies, fearing an escalation of the conflict.

Accordingly, the head of NATO argued that Ukraine has the right to defend itself against Russia's "aggressive behavior", including "attacking legitimate Russian military targets outside Ukraine". Mr. Stoltenberg did not specify when the Kiev government might actually receive the promised fighters. Each NATO member that has committed to delivering F-16s has a different policy and will decide for itself.

While Ukraine's NATO backers want the fighters to be operational as soon as possible, they would have a stronger impact if the pilots were well trained and there were enough maintenance and support crews available, Stoltenberg said.

“So I think we have to listen to the military experts exactly when we are ready or when our allies are ready to transfer the F-16... The sooner the better,” he stressed.

Ukraine has long requested F-16s as a way to counter Russian air superiority. Denmark and the Netherlands have both pledged to deliver some of the aircraft, while Ukrainian President Zelensky said the total number of aircraft pledged by the two countries to Kiev was 42.

The first Ukrainian pilots to be trained in the West finished classes in the UK last December. The design of the US-made fighter jets means they may struggle to operate from Ukrainian airstrips, fuelling speculation that they may be flown from Poland, Romania or the Baltic states.

Russia has repeatedly warned that the deployment of the F-16s would escalate the conflict and could even risk nuclear war, as the F-16s are capable of carrying B61 gravity bombs. “So if one of these planes takes off from a NATO country – what would it be? An attack on Russia. I will not describe what could happen next,” said Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy head of the Russian Security Council.

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