Head of NATO military committee backs Kiev's right to strike inside Russia

The head of NATO's military committee said that Ukraine has the solid legal and military right to strike deep inside Russia to gain combat advantage — reflecting the beliefs of a number of US allies — even as the Biden administration baulks at allowing Kiev to do so using American-made weapons.

"Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn't stop at the border of your own nation," said Admiral Rob Bauer, speaking at the close of the committee's annual meeting on Saturday, also attended by US General CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Bauer, of Netherlands, also added that nations have the sovereign right to put limits on the weapons they send to Ukraine.

But, standing next to him at a press briefing, Lieutenant General Karel Rehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, made it clear his nation places no such weapons restrictions on Kiev.

"We believe that the Ukrainians should decide themselves how to use it," Rehka said.

Their comments came as US President Joe Biden is weighing whether to allow Ukraine to use American-provided long-range weapons to hit deep into Russia. And they hint at the divisions over the issue.

Biden met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, after this week's visit to Kiev by their top diplomats, who came under fresh pressure to loosen weapons restrictions.

US officials familiar with discussions said they believed Starmer was seeking Biden's approval to allow Ukraine to use British Storm Shadow missiles for expanded strikes in Russia.

Providing additional support and training for Ukraine was a key topic at the NATO chiefs' meeting, but it wasn't clear on Saturday if the debate over the US restrictions was discussed.

Many of the European nations have been vigorously supportive of Ukraine in part because they worry about being the next victim of an empowered Russia.

Striking inside Russia

At the opening of the meeting, Czech Republic President Petr Pavel broadly urged the military chiefs gathered in the room to be "bold and open in articulating your assessments and recommendations.

The rounder and the softer they are, the less they will be understood by the political level." The allies, he said, must "take the right steps and the right decisions to protect our countries and our way of life."

Ukraine has increased its pleas to Washington to lift the restrictions, particularly as winter looms and Kiev worries about Russian gains during the colder months.

"You want to weaken the enemy that attacks you in order to not only fight the arrows that come your way, but also attack the archer that is, as we see, very often operating from Russia proper into Ukraine," said Bauer.

"So militarily, there's a good reason to do that, to weaken the enemy, to weaken its logistic lines, fuel, ammunition that comes to the front. That is what you want to stop, if at all possible."

Brown, for his part, told reporters travelling with him to the meeting that the US policy on long-range weapons remains in place.

But, he added, "By the same token, what we want to do is — regardless of that policy — we want to continue to make Ukraine successful with the capabilities that have been provided" by the US and other nations in the coalition, as well as the weapons Kiev has been able to build itself.

"They've proven themselves fairly effective in building out uncrewed aerial vehicles, in building out drones," Brown told reporters travelling with him to meetings in Europe.

The US allows Ukraine to use American weapons in cross-border strikes, but doesn't allow it to use long-range missiles deep into Russian territory.