The political pressure for Ukraine to have a free hand to use Western weapons is increasing.
More and more European countries are now signaling to Ukraine that it can strike Russian soil with Western weapons if necessary.
In the past, many countries that have given arms aid to Ukraine have specifically forbidden the use of weapons in attacks against Russia.
Leading researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute Charly Salonius-Pasternak sees a change in the general attitude of Western countries towards arms aid to Ukraine.
– Some countries, maybe even Finland, have already accepted the idea that if weapons are given to Ukraine, they should be used as planned. The pressure to change the policy has increased.
Salonius-Pasternak, who visited A-studio on Tuesday, wonders how people in the West are still worried about what Russia says about Western solutions.
– Instead, Ukraine’s defense could very easily be strengthened by loosening or removing restrictions without even giving new weapons.
Most recently, the EU’s foreign policy representative Josep Borrell stated on Tuesday at a meeting of defense ministers that Ukraine should have the right to use western weapons in its defense to attack Russia.
The Netherlands, Latvia, Estonia and Sweden, which participated in the meeting, also considered that Ukraine has every right to defend itself against Russia outside its own border lines.
Secretary General of the Military Alliance NATO Jens Stoltenberg has called on the West to loosen restrictions on the use of arms aid, as Russia is now shelling the city of Kharkiv from its own side of the border.
Britain has already given Ukraine permission to use its weapons for attacks on Russia.
The story will be updated.
Watch Tuesday’s A-studio at Areena.