Ukraine has received Western weapons from some partners with permission to use them to strike at Russian territory.
Source. This was stated in an interview with Evropeiska Pravda by Baiba Braže, who recently headed the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Currently, Western partners are supplying Kyiv with weapons that are subject to restrictions on their use: the allies do not want to escalate the confrontation with Russia if they use their weapons against targets deep in Russian territory.
However, according to Brazier, this approach is changing.
"There are countries that have already provided Ukraine with weapons without such restrictions," the Latvian foreign minister said, though she refused to name them directly.
According to Braže, the lifting of such restrictions is not openly discussed.
"Of course, not everything is said publicly, and it is better not to talk about it out loud until a certain time. The main thing is the impact on the battlefield. Because there is a choice: either say something loudly or just do what needs to be done," she said.
Brazier believes that Ukraine has the right to strike back at the targets from which it is being attacked, even if these targets are located on Russian territory. According to her, such use of weapons is permitted under international law.
Earlier, Ukraine has repeatedly asked its allies to provide it with long-range weapons.
Last year, in May, the UK handed over Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Kyiv. At the time, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace called the move a measured and proportionate response to Russia's escalation. The range of these missiles allows them to strike deep into the occupied regions of Ukraine and Crimea.
In October, the Ukrainian Armed Forces began using long-range ATACMS missiles. Depending on the type, these missiles have a range of 165 km or 300 km, and the US administration had long refused to supply them to Kyiv because of fears that they would strike deep into Russian territory.
And in late April, the State Department confirmed that the United States had secretly supplied Ukraine with 300-kilometre-range ATACMS missiles in recent weeks, and that Ukraine had already used them in Crimea.
The day before, the Latvian government approved the transfer of another military aid package to Ukraine, which includes anti-aircraft systems and unmanned surveillance systems.