European countries want NATO to lift restrictions on attacking Russian territory

The above comment was expressed by Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in an interview with Politico.

According to Mr. Rinkevics, the current restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western weapons "are not based on any rational or pragmatic approach" and should be lifted at the NATO summit, taking place from July 9-11 in Washington.

“ We all understand that if you really want to win the war, you must have the opportunity to strike targets located there, including deep inside Russian territory , provided that these are legitimate military targets ,” President Rinkevics said.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that President Biden had agreed to allow Ukraine to attack with US weapons on Russian territory.

“ We are only talking about shelling Russian areas near Kharkiv ,” Biden pointed out. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility that the range of US weapons strikes on Russian territory would increase. However, there is currently no consensus among Western countries on the issue of limiting the use of their weapons in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, President Putin warned that if his country were attacked by long-range weapons from the West, it could supply similar weapons to parties/countries that could use them against Western military assets. He added that this approach could lead to very dangerous results.

On Kiev's side, the Ukrainian military said it had carried out its first airstrikes on territory it recognized as Russian.

Sky News quoted a Ukrainian military source as saying that on June 9, a Ukrainian fighter jet attacked Russian territory for the first time. The attack damaged a Russian military command center in the border city of Belgorod.

" We continue to assess the enemy's damage, but this is confirmed to be a direct hit. For the first time, the Ukrainian military has struck a target inside Russian territory, " the source said.

Russia has not commented on Ukraine's claim, but if confirmed, it would be the first air attack since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022.

No further details were shared with Sky News – including the type of weapon and the issues involved. Russia has frontline air superiority and an extensive air defence network, which puts Ukraine at high risk when operating its air assets.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/quoc-gia-chau-au-muon-nato-do-bo-han-che-tan-cong-lanh-tho-nga-325634.html