NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the upcoming leaders-level meeting of the Contact Group on the provision of defense assistance to Ukraine is important, but permission to lift restrictions on striking deep into Russia should be given by individual NATO countries, not by the alliance as a whole, Ukrinform reported, citing his speech at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, BTA writes.< /p>
"President (Joe) Biden has called this meeting of leaders, and I think it is particularly important that we hold this meeting on Saturday, October 12, in Ramstein, together with allies and, of course, with Ukraine," Rüte.
When asked if during this meeting Ukraine could be given permission to use Western long-range missiles against military targets in Russia, Rutte replied that Ukraine clearly has the right to defend itself and international law is on its side .
"This means that this right does not end at the border. Russia is waging this illegal war, which means that targeting Russian fighter jets and missiles before they can be used against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure can help save lives (…) At the same time, each of the allies must to decide the level of support for Ukraine. And I know that some of these discussions are ongoing, but at the end of the day, it's not up to NATO. "Each ally must decide what restrictions they will impose on the weapons they send to Ukraine," the Secretary General explained.