NATO secretaries general do not usually attack the policies of the most the largest and most important member country of the alliance - the USA, reports The Economist. But Jens Stoltenberg, whose ten-year tenure at the helm is coming to an end, has done just that.
In an interview on May 24, he called on NATO allies supplying weapons to Ukraine to lift their ban on their use for military strikes in Russia.
Stoltenberg's clear, if unnamed, target was the policy espoused by Joe Biden, America's president, to control what Ukraine could and could not attack with American-supplied systems.
"It is time for the Allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions they have placed on the use of weapons they have donated to Ukraine. Especially now, when there is a lot of fighting in the Kharkiv region, close to the border, Ukraine's ban on using these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very difficult for them to defend themselves," the Secretary General said.
Stoltenberg stressed that the Russians will continue to attack and gain certain territorial gains in the border area, regardless of losses.
"We must remember what this is. This is a war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine. Ukraine has the right to defend itself. This includes striking targets on Russian territory," Stoltenberg insists.
Stolterbeg's predecessor, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, also called earlier this month to allow NATO countries in eastern Europe to use ground-based air defenses to shoot down Russian missiles and drones aimed at Ukraine. Stoltenberg did not support this proposal. "We will not be a party to the conflict," he said. According to him, the task of the West is the opposite - "not to allow this war to turn into a full-fledged war between Russia and NATO in Europe".
For Stoltenberg, allowing Ukraine to attack targets in Russia with Western weapons and NATO's direct involvement in the conflict are not the same thing, notes the Economist.
"We are conducting exercises, providing weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, but we will not participate directly from NATO territory in hostilities over Ukraine or in Ukraine. This is a completely different issue," Stoltenberg said.
At the same time, the Secretary-General criticized the inability of European countries to fulfill the already undertaken obligations for arms supplies.
"The European allies promised a million artillery shells. We haven't seen anything like this," he said.
Stoltenberg admitted that NATO should avoid direct confrontation with the Russian Federation. At the same time, he sees a difference between the supply of weapons and direct participation in hostilities.
"We conduct exercises, supply weapons, ammunition to Ukraine, but we will not directly participate in military operations over or in Ukraine from NATO territory. Therefore, this is another matter," he emphasized, adding that NATO does not plan to send troops to Ukraine, despite the French president's public statements.
We recall that the United States announced on Friday a new package of weapons and equipment worth $275 million for Ukraine.
Its purpose is to help the country repel a Russian attack near Kharkiv.
The package contains urgently needed ammunition for HIMARS, 155 mm and 105 mm artillery shells, missiles, anti-armor systems and precision air munitions.
Weapons from the US and other Western countries supplied to Kiev are already striking civilian targets on Russian soil. This was stated by the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov.
In his words, American weapons are already being used against various targets outside the combat zone. Western weapons hit targets on the territory of the Russian Federation, primarily civilian infrastructure and residential areas, he specified.
According to Lavrov, Western countries are waging a war against the Russian Federation, despite all statements that they do not encourage or advise the use of weapons supplied to Kiev on Russian territory.
Lavrov called such reassuring statements "tricks" that the Americans try to present to their public opinion or to the opinion of NATO members.
In the past week, Russia has included parts of its Africa Corps, along with regular Russian forces and Storm-Z units, in the offensive in Volchansk, north of Kharkiv.
This was announced by the British Ministry of Defense in its daily summary of the war in Ukraine.
The Russian Africa Corps, which was established in December 2023, consists of about 2,000 military personnel, as well as experienced mercenaries who served in the PMC "Wagner".
According to British intelligence, it is highly likely that the Africa Corps was previously deployed in Syria, Libya, Burkina Faso and Niger
The Russian Ministry of Defense almost certainly deployed units of the Africa Corps along the Ukrainian border in April 2024 in preparation for the offensive near Kharkiv.
It is very likely that Russia is stepping up its war against Ukraine with resources previously earmarked for Africa.
Russia opened a new front near Kharkiv in early May.