NATO’s Stoltenberg: Each Country Must Decide on Ukraine’s Use of Long-Range Missiles Against Russia, Reports Reuters

LONDON – Jens Stoltenberg, the outgoing head of NATO, expressed support on Monday for discussions regarding Ukraine’s potential use of long-range missiles to target inside Russian territory. However, he emphasized that any decisions on this matter would ultimately rest with individual member states.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been urging allies for several months to permit Ukraine to utilize Western missiles, including long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows, to diminish Moscow’s capacity to launch attacks.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden recently met in Washington to deliberate on whether to allow Kyiv to deploy long-range missiles against Russian targets, but no conclusive decision was made.

“I welcome these developments and decisions, but it is up to individual allies to make the final call,” Stoltenberg stated during an interview. “Allies have different policies in this regard.”

There are U.S. officials who remain doubtful that permitting the use of such missiles would significantly alter Ukraine’s condition in its war against Russian forces.

President Vladimir Putin has warned that if the West allows Ukraine to attack with Western-made long-range missiles, it would be tantamount to a direct confrontation with Russia.

When asked about potential Russian retaliation, Stoltenberg acknowledged that “there are no risk-free options in the war.” However, he stressed that the most significant risk for NATO and the United Kingdom would be a victory for President Putin in Ukraine.