Following The US, Germany Allows Ukraine To Use Its Weapons In Kharkiv Border Area

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - German authorities on Friday said Ukraine could use weapons supplied by Berlin to defend against attacks launched from within Russia against northern Ukrainian border areas around Kharkiv City in accordance with international law.

Germany has discussed with its allies about Russia's attack on the Kharkiv region from positions in neighboring Russia's border areas, a government spokesman said.

"We are jointly confident that Ukraine has the rights, which are guaranteed by international law, to defend itself against these attacks," the spokesman said in a statement.

"To do so, Ukraine can also use weapons supplied for this purpose in accordance with its international legal obligations, including those supplied by us," he said.

The statement comes after days of scrutiny over German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over whether the government has changed its stance on allowing Kyiv to use German weapons to attack Russian territory.

German officials declined to disclose publicly about how they wanted Ukraine to deploy weapons supplied by the West, fearing rhetoric that could escalate tensions as Russia threatened to launch a tactical nuclear strike against Ukraine.

However, the majority of weapons sent to Ukraine by Germany are not suitable for attacking Russia's position far behind the front lines. Howitzers self-propelled, for example, could strike targets at a distance of up to 56 kilometers (35 miles), but were not deployed around the front lines.

Meanwhile, France, Britain, and the United States have supplied Ukraine with weapons with a longer range of targets.

Berlin's remarks came a day after US officials stated President Joe Biden had quietly changed policies to allow Kyiv to fire weapons supplied by Uncle Sam's country to targets within Russia but only near the border with the Kharkiv region.

Earlier President Biden firmly refused to allow Ukraine to use US weapons to carry out attacks within Russia.

Meanwhile, speaking in Prague on Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also spoke in support of Ukraine using weapons provided by Western countries to attack legitimate military targets within Russian territory.

Calls to allow the use of Western weapons against missile launchers and other military sites within Russia came as Moscow claimed territorial acquisition in cross-border attacks in the region around Ukraine's second-largest city.