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“Ukraine Has to Defend Itself”: NATO’s Rutte Backs Kyiv’s Strikes on Military Targets Inside Russia
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As Ukrainian drones strike targets deeper inside Russia, questions are resurfacing over whether Kyiv should show restraint. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte offered a clear answer.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte defended Ukraine’s right to strike targets inside Russia as an act of self-defense when asked whether NATO wanted Kyiv to ease military pressure on Moscow in order to facilitate peace talks, according to UNITED24 Media correspondents in Brussels.
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels on June 17 ahead of the 35th Ramstein meeting, Rutte was responding to a question from Alexandra Filipenko of The Breakfast Show, a Russian independent outlet operating in exile in Lithuania.
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Filipenko noted that Ukraine is increasingly conducting long-range strikes inside Russia using domestically developed technologies, while recent comments from Washington following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin suggested such attacks could complicate peace efforts.
She asked whether NATO believed Ukraine should scale back those operations.
Rutte rejected that notion, saying Ukraine has the right to defend itself and that the right of self-defense includes striking legitimate military targets on Russian territory.
"And of course, Ukraine has to defend itself," Rutte declared, framing that view as one shared across the alliance. Helping Kyiv do so, he added, is "what we all think and find and do."
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Rather than directly endorsing or discouraging continued strikes, Rutte pointed to a joint G7 statement signed the previous day by the assembled heads of state and government.
The statement, issued by the leaders of the US, France, Italy, Canada, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, pledged to step up deliveries of air defense systems, interceptors, and long-range capabilities.
It also opened the door to licensing arrangements that would let Ukraine expand its domestic weapons production, alongside tougher sanctions targeting Russia's oil and gas sectors.
At the same time, Ukraine's long-range strike campaign has expanded steadily over recent months, with domestically produced drones now reaching targets between 1,700 and 2,000 kilometers inside Russia, hitting military production facilities, air bases, and energy sites far from the border.
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