The Kremlin accused NATO on Thursday of “provoking” Kiev into prolonging the conflict in Ukraine, where officials have sought permission from allies to attack Russia with Western-supplied weapons.
NATO foreign ministers are meeting in Prague amid growing calls for Ukraine’s leading allies and arms suppliers to lift restrictions that currently prevent Kiev from using Western weapons to attack inside Russia’s borders.
“NATO member states, the United States and capitals in Europe have entered a new round of escalations of tensions in recent days and weeks and they are doing so deliberately,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“They are provoking Ukraine in every possible way to continue this senseless war,” Peskov told reporters at a daily briefing.
Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Vladimir Putin claiming his country was “fiercely fighting for its future and repelling the aggression of neo-Nazis and their masters,” referring to Ukraine and the West.
Since then, his brutal invasion – the bloodiest conflict on European soil in decades – has largely become a war of attrition.
A view of fire after a Ukrainian soldier fires Msta-B artillery at his fighting position towards Liman
Vladimir Putin (pictured) claimed his country was ‘fiercely fighting for its future and repelling the aggression of neo-Nazis and their masters’, referring to Ukraine and the West
As the country continues to fend off a Russian attack in the east, Ukraine has put pressure on its supporters – especially the United States – to allow the country to use its supplied weapons over longer distances to hit targets in Russia.
The US and Germany have so far refused to allow Kiev to cross the border, fearing it could escalate the war and bring NATO countries closer to direct conflict with Moscow.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was forced to combat Russian attempts to sow discord in democracies with misinformation after hinting that the Biden administration could soon allow Ukraine to use US-supplied ammunition to attack inside Russia.
In Prague, before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Blinken lashed out at Moscow’s use of disinformation and disinformation, calling it a “poison” and signing an agreement with the Czech government to combat it. He also toured a Czech military base, where he saw armored vehicles that Prague is sending to Kiev to help fight the Russian invasion, and was briefed on a Czech initiative to supply Ukraine with a million rounds of ammunition by the end of the year .
“We know that a major front in the competitive battle that we have, the adversarial relationship that we have, particularly with Russia, is on the information front,” Blinken said.
He said the deal with the Czechs – the 17th accord the US has signed with partner countries – would help “effectively deal with disinformation and disinformation, a poison injected into our democracies by our adversaries.”
Ukrainian soldiers fire a mortar in the direction of Avdivka
Firefighters try to extinguish the fire that broke out in a destroyed building after a Russian shelling at night, in the center of Pokrovsk, Ukraine on November 30, 2023
“The more we can do together, both among our countries and with other countries, the more effectively we will expose and deal with this,” Blinken told reporters at a signing ceremony with Czech Foreign Minister Jan. Lipavsky.
Lipavsky agreed, noting that Czech authorities had recently exposed a major Russian-backed disinformation campaign.
“We are facing a confrontation between democracies and autocracies,” Lipavsky said. “The Kremlin has begun to target democracies around the world with cyber warfare, propaganda and influence operations and this danger simply cannot be underestimated anymore.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and support for Ukrainian efforts to fend off the country will be a key focus of NATO foreign ministers’ meetings on Thursday and Friday – the alliance’s last major diplomatic meeting before a leaders’ summit in Washington in July to mark the 75th anniversary of its founding.
Ukrainian soldiers of the 80th brigade fire artillery at Russian positions in the direction of Bakhmut
Ukrainian soldiers fire a grenade launcher as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues toward Avdivka
On Wednesday in Moldova, Blinken said U.S. policy on the use of American weapons is constantly evolving, suggesting Washington could revoke an unwritten ban on their use by Ukraine for attacks on Russian territory.
While U.S. officials insist there is no formal ban, they have long made clear that they believe using U.S. weapons to attack targets in Russia could provoke an escalating response from Moscow, something Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised.
That position appears to be being reconsidered, with Blinken noting that it was a “hallmark” of the Biden administration’s position on Ukraine to “adapt and adapt” as necessary. Blinken visited Kiev earlier this month and heard a direct call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to use US military aid to attack positions in Russia from which attacks on Ukraine will be launched.
“As circumstances have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed in terms of the way it pursues its aggression and escalation, we have also adapted and adapted, and I am confident that we will continue to do so doing. Blinken said at a news conference in Chisinau.
“Every step along the way we have adapted and adapted as necessary, and that is exactly what we will do going forward,” he said. “We are always listening, we are always learning, and we are always making decisions about what is necessary to ensure that Ukraine can continue to defend itself effectively, and we will continue to do so.”
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Western countries should not object if Ukraine has to strike in Russia to defend itself.