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BERLIN — The German government is cautiously ditching its reservations about allowing Ukraine to hit military targets inside Russia with donated arms.
On Tuesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Ukraine could use German-supplied weapons “within the framework of international law,” which would allow them to be used against an aggressor like Russia, including inside Russian territory.
That wasn’t quite as clear as other countries have been on the topic.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke alongside Scholz on Tuesday, said: “We have to allow [Ukrainians] to neutralize the military sites from which the missiles are fired, but not other civilian or military targets,” adding a limit that’s not in line with what Kyiv wants.
Other countries leave even less ambiguity.
“Polish weapons sent to Ukraine have no limits. Ukrainians can use them as they see fit,” Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said in a Polish radio interview.
Berlin moved on Wednesday to clear up confusion about what Scholz meant to say.
Scholz’s spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit told reporters that Ukraine’s “defensive action is not limited to one’s own territory, but [can] also be expanded to the territory of the aggressor,” while also stressing that he could not reveal precise agreements with Kyiv on using German weapons as they are “confidential.”
Hebestreit further argued that a year-old statement by Scholz, in which he said there was a “consensus” that Ukraine would not use German weapons on Russian soil, had been “a statement of facts” that was true at that moment but did not necessarily apply to the future.
A person familiar with the German government’s position also said that Scholz was in favor of allowing the use of Western weapons against targets inside Russia, without going into detail.
“I find it strange,” Scholz told reporters on Tuesday, “when some people have discussions and say that they [the Ukrainians] are not allowed to defend themselves and take measures that are suitable for this.”
Allies are responding to pressure from Kyiv to explicitly allow Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia with Western arms as a way of stalling Moscow’s counteroffensive and bombing campaign.
Washington remains the big holdout.
