German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has backed the idea of allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike Russian territory, a knowledgeable source told Politico.
Scholz has changed his position over the past few days. Back on May 28, the German chancellor said that he saw no reason to expand the range of Western weapons in the Ukrainian conflict. He recalled that there are “clear rules on the supply of German weapons to Kyiv, which have been agreed with Ukraine and which are working”.
Scholz called the goal of his policy toward the military conflict in Ukraine “to prevent it from escalating into a very big war”.
He then met with French President Emmanuel Macron, who persuaded Scholz to authorize Western weapons strikes against Russian military bases in Russia. The chancellor then said Ukraine could use the weapons supplied to it “within the framework of international law”. This allows its use against the aggressor, which is Russia, Politico notes.
On the same day, Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit clarified Scholz’s position. He noted that “Ukraine’s defensive actions are not limited to its own territory, but [may] also extend to the territory of Russia”. At the same time, Hebeestreit emphasized that he could not disclose the exact arrangements with Kyiv on the use of German weapons because they were confidential.
Also, according to spokesman Scholz, the chancellor’s statement about a “consensus” with Ukraine on refraining from strikes on Russian territory, made last February, was a “statement of facts” that were true at the time but not necessarily applicable in the future.
The United States may also change its position on Ukraine’s strikes on Russia with Western weapons, Politico’s sources said. According to them, no decision has been made yet, but Joe Biden’s administration is following a familiar trajectory – “initial caution followed by resolution”.
Before that, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged the alliance’s member states to allow Ukraine to use supplied weapons to strike Russia. The discussion of this issue was revitalized after the start of the Russian offensive in Kharkiv region.
So far, eleven Western countries have given their consent to allow Ukraine to hit military facilities on Russian territory with their weapons. They are France, Britain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Canada.
