Ukraine should be able to freely use the weapons provided to it . This is what the Foreign Minister of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis insisted to "Reuters", quoted by News.bg.
He expressed hope that Kiev will be able to strike deeper into Russia with the weapons that Washington has announced it will supply.
According to the minister, arming Ukraine is not particularly effective if it is not allowed to use the weapons.
„The strategic goal that puts Ukraine in the strongest possible position requires that it be allowed to use weapons freely”, Landsbergis stressed.
Ukraine is pressuring the United States and other Western governments to authorize long-range strikes that it says will help it counter Russia's relentless airstrikes.
Russia has warned that any decision to allow Ukraine to attack Russia with long-range Western missiles would deepen US and European direct involvement in the war and provoke a response from Moscow.
Yesterday US President Joe Biden announced over $8 billion in military aid to Ukraine, which Landsbergis described as “huge”.
It includes the first delivery of a precision-guided cruise bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 130 km. Its range is greater than that of current US-supplied cruise bombs.
„I read President Biden's statement and I see that there is a new type of missile that is being delivered and it has a longer range than the previous ones,”, Landsbergis noted.
„I hope this is not a missile that has to be fired from a distance, that they will be allowed to use these missiles and fire further.“
A US official previously clarified that Biden would not announce that Washington would allow Ukraine to use US missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russia.
Landsbergis stated that while he had not seen the specifics of the “victory plan” of Kiev to end the war, has heard from the Ukrainians that security guarantees should be discussed.
Talks on Ukraine's inclusion in NATO's common defense zone have resumed, he said, adding that Lithuania strongly supports such a move and is glad that this issue is back on the agenda.
„This has to happen. If you say you want Ukraine in a safe, secure position, without risk of being attacked, you have to answer how. And, to be honest, this is not rocket science”, commented the minister.
Yesterday in Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that it is important to secure Ukraine's future in NATO — something he's been aiming for for a long time. However, the Allies did not take this step.