NATO Parliamentary Assembly Urges Allies to Lift Restrictions on Ukraine and Allow Wider Weapon Usage

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA), held on May 27 in Sofia, Bulgaria, declared that NATO allies should lift restrictions that prohibit Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied weapons against military targets inside Russia.

NATO Assembly President Michal Szczerba urged swift delivery of air defense systems and other crucial weapons to Ukraine, stressing there’s no time for delays.

“They need our help. Not in two years. Not in two months. Not even in two weeks. They need it now. We must speed up and step up. Give Ukraine everything it needs,” Szczerba told the meeting.

NATO’s PA says current aid isn’t enough for Ukraine to win. They urge allies to adopt a new strategy of rapid and sustained support to provide Ukraine with “all that it needs as quickly as possible and for as long as it takes for it to win.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg added his voice to a declaration approved by a majority of the 281 lawmakers in the PA. He emphasized to legislators that the July Summit in Washington must produce a plan for the Alliance to play a bigger role in supplying and coordinating long-term military aid to Ukraine.

“The right to self-defense includes hitting legitimate targets outside Ukraine,” according to Stoltenberg.

The declaration also stressed that NATO’s Summit “must send a clear signal that Allies will stand with Ukraine until victory and must take a concrete step forward towards Ukraine’s NATO membership.”

Additionally, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics has urged Western partners to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of supplied weapons, noting that Russia’s current offensive attempts are also a result of Western delays and indecision.

“What we see is the consequence of our inability to provide Ukraine with weapons and also putting restrictions [on using] those weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.” Rinkevics stated in his interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN.

Earlier, The Minister of Defense of Sweden Pal Jonson stated, that Ukraine can use Swedish weapons to strike targets on Russian territory.