JAKARTA - The Kremlin condemned the call by the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) regarding Ukraine's use of Western-made weapons on Russian territory, assessing that it could lead to direct escalation.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Economist that NATO members supplying weapons to Ukraine should end the ban on their use to attack Russian military targets.
"NATO is increasing the level of escalation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian daily Izvestia when asked about Stoltenberg's statement, quoted by Reuters, May 28.
"NATO played around with military rhetoric and fell into military ecstasy," Peskov continued, adding the Russian military knew what had to be done.
When asked whether NATO was in direct confrontation with Russia, Peskov said: "They are not approaching it; they are engaging in it."
Previously, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said that the issue of Ukraine's use of Western weapons in Russian territory was returned to the respective member countries that supplied them to Kyiv.
"Therefore, some allies have lifted restrictions, thereby allowing Ukrainians to defend themselves better. And I think the time has come to consider lifting all restrictions," said Stoltenberg, during a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, quoted from TASS.
According to him, once NATO weapons are handed over to Kyiv, they will become Ukrainian weapons and can be used at their discretion.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov assessed that Stoltenberg had exceeded his authority when talking about the use of Western weapons.
"Stoltenberg was criticized by NATO members themselves, in particular the Italian Prime Minister, if I'm not mistaken. I doubt that the Secretary General can assume the responsibility to speak on behalf of the members of the bloc when this topic has not been discussed within it. I do not mean at the level of the secretary general's secretariat, but within the bloc, which includes member states, while I believe he has exceeded his authority," explained Foreign Minister Lavrov.
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It is known that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned Western countries that they risk causing a global war over Ukraine, while a direct conflict between Russia and NATO could take the world one step closer to World War Three.
Russian officials themselves have previously warned that Ukraine's attacks deep inside Russian territory, including on civilian areas and even parts of Russia's nuclear defenses, were escalatory.
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