Dutch Foreign Minister Affirms Support for Ukrainian F-16 Strikes Inside Russia

The Netherlands will not object to Ukraine's future use of F-16 fighter jets over the territory of Russia as a means of self-defense, said the Dutch Foreign Minister, Hanke Bruins-Slot, on May 31 during the second day of the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Prague.

"If you have the right to self-defense, there are no borders for the use of weapons. This is a general principle," Hanke Bruins-Slot said.

Bruins-Slot added that the use of Western aviation over the territory of Russia is allowed by Article 51 of the UN Charter, which speaks of the right to self-defense.

On May 30, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen stated that Ukraine would be able to use Danish F-16 fighters to strike military targets on Russian territory.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has urged its allies to allow strikes on Russian territory using Western weaponry. Serhii Nykyforov, the press secretary of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, confirmed in an interview with The Guardian that Ukraine has received permission from the United States to use American weapons for strikes on Russian territory with restrictions—the weapons can be used in the border region with Kharkiv.