The Kremlin described his comments as “dangerous”. Jens Stoldenbergthe outgoing NATO chief, that a Western decision to allow Ukraine to use Western long-range weapons to hit Russia would not be a red line that would trigger an escalation from Moscow.
The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking allies for months to allow Ukraine to launch Western missiles, including long-range US ATACMS and British Storm Shadows, into Russia to limit Moscow’s ability to launch attacks.
In an interview with The Times published on Tuesday, Stoltenberg dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning last week that allowing Ukraine to use such weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory meant the West was fighting Russia directly.
“There have been many red lines drawn by him in the past, and he has not escalated, which would also mean direct involvement of NATO allies in the conflict,” said Stoltenbergwhose term as head of the alliance ends in October.
“He hasn’t done it because he realizes that NATO is the strongest military alliance in the world. They also realize that nuclear weapons, nuclear war cannot be won and should not be fought. And we have made this clear to him several times.”
The representative of the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Stoltenberg’s comments were dangerous.
“His ostentatious desire not to take the Russian president’s statements seriously is a completely short-sighted and unprofessional move,” Peskov said.
Stoltenberg’s position is “extremely challenging and dangerous,” Peskov added.
A senior NATO military official said over the weekend that Ukraine has a good military reason to strike deeper into Russia with Western weapons. Kiev’s allies, including the US and Britain, are currently debating whether to give Kiev the green light to proceed with such a move.
Senior Russian politicians and foreign policy hawks hint that Moscow may retaliate with nuclear weapons. The head of Russia’s nuclear testing center said his unit was ready to start testing again “at any time.” Russia has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
Over the course of the war, Washington and its allies have increased military aid to Ukraine in ways unimaginable when it began, including providing armored vehicles, advanced missiles and F-16 fighter jets.
This has led some Western politicians to suggest that Putin’s nuclear rhetoric is a bluff and that the US and NATO should do everything possible to help Ukraine win the war. THE Zelensky has said the Ukrainian incursion into Russia, which began on August 6, is a mockery of Putin’s red lines.
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