Lithuania's foreign minister calls for Ukraine to use arms provided by the west

27/9/2024 6:08

        Ukraine should be able
        to freely use arms it has been provided, Lithuania's foreign
        minister told Reuters on Thursday, adding he hoped Kyiv would be
        able to shoot further into Russia with weapons Washington
        announced it would deliver to Ukraine.
        
        Arming Ukraine is one thing, Lithuania's Foreign Minister
        Gabrielius Landsbergis told Reuters in an interview, but he said
        it is not extremely efficient if Kyiv is not allowed to use the
        arms.
        
        "The strategic goal that puts Ukraine in the strongest
        possible position requires to allow them to use the weaponry
        freely," Landsbergis said.
        
        Ukraine has been pressing the United States and other
        Western governments to authorize long-range strikes that it says
        will help counter Russia's relentless aerial attacks on Ukraine.
        
        Russia has warned that any decision to allow Ukraine to
        strike Russia with long-range Western missiles would deepen what
        it called the direct involvement of the U.S. and Europe in the
        war and would trigger a response from Moscow.
        
        U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced more than $8
        billion in military assistance for Ukraine, which Landsbergis
        said was "huge."
        
        It includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide
        bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81
        miles (130 km). The range is further than current U.S.-furnished
        air-dropped glide bombs.
        
        "I'm reading President Biden's statement, and I'm seeing
        that there is a new type of rockets that are being delivered
        that are longer-range than the previous ones," Landsbergis said.
        
        "My hope is that it's not a rocket that they should shoot
        from afar, from a distance to the front, that they would be
        allowed to use those rockets and shoot further out."
        
        A U.S. official earlier said Biden would not announce that
        Washington would let Ukraine use U.S. missiles to hit targets
        deeper in Russia.
        
        Landsbergis said that while he has not seen the specifics of
        Kyiv's "victory plan" to end the war, they have heard from
        Ukrainians that security guarantees have to be discussed.
        
        Talks about including Ukraine in the common defense area of
        the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have reemerged, he said,
        adding that Lithuania is very supportive of such a move and glad
        to have it back on the agenda.
        
        "It has to happen," Landsbergis said. "If you're saying
        that, OK, we want Ukraine in a safe, secure position, without
        the risk that they will be attacked, you have to answer how.
        And, honestly, it's not rocket science."
        
        Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a visit to
        Washington on Thursday said it was important to secure Ukraine's
        future in NATO, something he has long sought. But allies have
        stopped short of taking that step.