Ukraine Gets Green Light to Strike Inside Russia From NATO Ally

Poland has given Ukraine the green light to use weapons supplied by Warsaw to strike targets inside Russia.

In an interview with Poland's Radio Zet, Cezary Tomczyk, the deputy defense minster, said Warsaw "does not apply any restrictions when it comes to the use of Polish weapons by Ukrainians."

There has been a growing chorus of calls for Ukraine to be authorized to use Western weapons to attack targets inside Russia, more than two years into the war launched by Moscow in February 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine against using long-range weapons provided by NATO members to strike his country. He said on Tuesday that doing so could trigger "a global conflict."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment by email.

Tomczyk said that Poland doesn't have any objections regarding the use of the equipment it provides to Ukraine. "Ukraine can use [the weapons] as it sees fit," he said. "The Polish position is that there should be no restrictions in this regard. Ukraine should be able to fight with the equipment it receives, because that is why it receives this equipment, to be effective.

"Ukraine is being restricted by some countries and this should end."

A number of other Western officials have also backed Ukraine using NATO-supplied weapons to strike military targets on Russian soil.

"We support Ukraine and we don't want escalation, that hasn't changed," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at a joint press briefing with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Germany on Tuesday. "We think we should allow them to neutralize military sites from which missiles are fired, military sites from which Ukraine is attacked, but we shouldn't allow them to hit other targets in Russia and civilian or other military sites in Russia.

"Ukrainian soil is being attacked from bases in Russia. So how do we explain to the Ukrainians that we're going to have to protect these towns ... if we tell them you are not allowed to hit the point from which the missiles are fired?"

U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron has also suggested allowing Ukraine to use British weapons for strikes on Russian soil.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with The Economist published on May 25 that members of the military alliance should "consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions they have imposed on weapons donated to Ukraine."

The U.S. has maintained that Washington is against Ukraine conducting strikes on Russian soil using Western weapons, including oil refineries, some of which have been fueling Putin's military throughout the conflict.

Charlie Dietz, a Pentagon spokesman, told Newsweek last week that the U.S. has "been very clear that we do not support or enable strikes inside Russia."

"The security assistance we provide them is for use within Ukraine (to include Crimea). And the Ukrainian government understands our position," Dietz said. "For one thing, targeting Russia's oil refineries can negatively impact global security and stability. But ultimately Ukraine is responsible for its own operations, so I'll let them speak for themselves."

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