The Kremlin accused NATO today of encouraging Ukraine to extend the conflict against Russian forces, amid intense debate among Kyiv’s allies about allowing Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil with Western weapons. “NATO member countries, mainly the United States and other European capitals, have recently initiated a new cycle of escalation,” stated Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He further went on to say that this is being done deliberately expressing that warmongering statements are encouraging Ukraine by all possible means to continue the senseless war.
Peskov warned that “all this will have natural and inevitable consequences and will ultimately harm the interests of those countries that have chosen the path of escalation.”
In recent weeks, alliance capitals have debated whether to use Western-supplied long-range missiles on Russian soil. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg supports this, but countries like Germany are hesitant, fearing direct conflict with Moscow. French President Emmanuel Macron, during his visit to Germany on Tuesday, stated that Kyiv’s allies must allow the Ukrainian army to “neutralize” military bases from which Russia launches its missiles. An informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers is being held today and tomorrow, and Paris plans to use it to persuade the more reluctant countries.
