There is an increased push by Western nations to permit attacks on Russian territory using weapons they have sent the Ukrainian military, an issue that has become more urgent as Moscow boosts troops on the border for a possible offensive, according to Kyiv officials, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The latest such calls came from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which adopted a declaration on Monday urging its members to end a ban on firing Western weapons into Russia. This request came on the heels of other such calls by government ministers in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Sweden, as well as following similar statements by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Such requests are mostly directed at the United States, the largest supplier of weapons to the Ukrainian government but which has repeatedly asked Kyiv not to fire American-made weapons into Russian territory out of concern of escalating the war.
All of this comes as NATO foreign ministers prepare to gather for an informal meeting later this week in Prague, the Washington Examiner reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Tuesday that Western nations allowing Ukraine to strike into Russia should be aware of "what they're playing with," adding that small European countries doing so should remember that they are densely populated, making what seems to be a threat against them, the New York Times reported.
Ukraine points out that Russia has amassed some 10,000 soldiers on the border in preparation for a possible ground offensive.
"Why can't we use weapons to destroy them where they are massing?" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked last week. "This would also help, because they wouldn't be united in a single operation. They would know that if they accumulate at a particular point, we will strike."
Although Ukraine has used its homemade long-range drones to target airfields and energy infrastructure in Russia, it does not produce powerful missiles or long-range artillery that could strike important military sites there.