Several European leaders this week signaled their willingness to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike targets inside Russian territory.
“We should allow them to neutralize military sites [inside Russia] from which missiles are fired,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on May 28.
He made the comment at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who also agreed that Ukraine should be “allowed to defend itself” from cross-border Russian attacks.
On the same day, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg voiced similar sentiments, stressing Kyiv’s “right to self-defense.”
“This right ... also includes striking targets outside Ukraine—legitimate military targets inside Russia,” he said before meeting with EU defense ministers in Brussels.
According to Mr. Stoltenberg, the issue is “particularly relevant” now, given a recent string of Russian military gains in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region.
Since Moscow launched its invasion in early 2022, Ukraine’s allies have prohibited Kyiv from using Western weapons to strike targets inside Russia, fearing such a move could dramatically broaden the conflict.
But as Russian forces continue to capture territory—in Kharkiv and elsewhere—most Western capitals now appear to be changing their tune.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron started the trend early this month when he upheld Ukraine’s “right” to use British long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russian territory.
“Just as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can quite understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it’s defending itself,” he said during a visit to Kyiv.
Moscow responded by vowing to strike UK military assets—in Ukraine and elsewhere—if UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles were used against Russian territory.
Yet despite the Russian warnings, several of Kyiv’s most ardent supporters—led by the three Baltic states—have since repeated Mr. Cameron’s assertions.
“The way to react to Russian aggression ... is to allow Ukraine to use the weapons they have in the way they need to use them,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on May 27.
In televised comments the same day, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics claimed there was “no rational reason not to let Ukraine use these [Western-supplied] weapons against Russia.”
In a social media post, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur called on Kyiv’s allies to “allow Ukraine to strike military targets” deep inside Russian territory.
The Danish and Czech prime ministers, along with the Dutch Defense Ministry, issued similar statements this week.
Italy, meanwhile, has remained an exception, insisting that any weapons it gives to Ukraine must only be used inside the latter’s borders.
“All weapons sent from Italy [to Kyiv] should only be used within Ukraine,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in televised comments on May 30.
US Ambivalence, Russian Warning
Amid the increasingly bellicose statements emanating from Europe, Washington appears to be hedging its bets.On May 29, White House national security spokesman John Kirby appeared adamant that Washington hadn’t changed its stance on the issue.
“Right now, there’s no change to our policy,” Mr. Kirby told reporters.
“We do not encourage, nor do we enable, attacks using U.S. weapons on Russian soil.
“But our support to Ukraine has evolved appropriately as the battlefield conditions have evolved. And that’s not going to change.”
On the same day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington could “adjust” its stance on the issue in light of current realities.
“As the nature of the battlefield has changed, as the locations, the means that Russia is employing have changed, we’ve adapted and adjusted to that,” he said.
“That’s exactly what we’ll do going forward.”
Moscow’s response to the issue, meanwhile, has been more forthright.
When asked on May 28 about the shift in position among Kyiv’s European allies, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned: “Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences.
“If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons?”
He added that Kyiv’s use of long-range weapons—to hit targets in Russia—would require the help of Western powers, making them direct parties to the conflict.
Kyiv’s European allies, the Russian leader warned, “should be aware of what they are playing with.”
He went on to note the small size of most countries in Europe, many of which contain “densely populated” urban areas.
“This is something they should bear in mind before they talk about strikes inside Russian territory,” Mr. Putin said.
