Ukraine given weapons with no restrictions by some partners

Ukraine has been given permission by some of its partners and allies to attack Russian territory with Western-supplied weapons according to remarks from the newly appointed Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže. 

In an interview with European Pravda on May 1st, Braže revealed some of the countries supplying Ukraine with weapons have given Kyiv permission to use some weapons from some of its partners without any restrictions. 

Photo Credit: YouTube @EuroPravda

Braže explained that "international law allows strikes on aggressor countries' territory for defensive purposes” according to a quote of her remarks by The New Voice of Ukraine and she noted this was already happening.

“While Ukraine receives weapons from Western partners with a public warning to avoid strikes beyond its borders, such a stance is shifting,” Braže said before going on to say that some countries were already giving Ukraine weapons without restrictions.

"Some countries have already provided weapons to Ukraine without imposing restrictions… in these instances, the lifting of restrictions is not publicly disclosed,” Braže explained without revealing any more details. 

Ukrainska Pravda reported that Braže also explained her belief that if facilities in Russia are being used to attack Ukraine the Ukraine should be allowed to strike those facilities even if they are inside of Russia. 

This isn’t the first time that a Western official has expressed the sentiment that Ukraine should be allowed to attack targets inside of Russia using weapons supplied to Kyiv by the West. NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has also expressed this view.

“We have to remember this is a war of aggression where Russia is attacking a neighbor, attacking Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said during an April 22nd press conference following a virtual meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. 

“Ukraine has the right to self-defense,” Stoltenberg added. “That includes also striking legitimate military targets outside Ukraine.” This is a view that the de facto leader of the NATO alliance has expressed on several occasions over several months. 

The Kyiv Post reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that Ukraine would not use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets outside of its borders, but that area does include Crimea and other annexed territories. 

Ukraine has recently received long-range ATACMS cruise missiles from the U.S. and allegedly used these weapons in a strike against Russian targets in Russian-occupied territories that included Crimea.