Politico: Ukraine’s Offensive In Kursk Region Gets ‘Greenish Light’ From Western Allies
- 10.08.2024, 8:45
Self-defense is not limited to Ukrainian territory.
The large-scale offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region is supported by Kyiv's allies in the West. As Ukraine widens its attacks inside Russia, there is no sign that the country's sometimes reluctant Western allies are putting pressure on Kyiv to ease off. Politico writes about this.
It is noted in the material that this concerns even Germany, an ally which has often been reluctant to risk provoking Russian leader Vladimir Putin, particularly when it comes to providing Ukrainians with weapons they could use to attack Russia.
But there have been “no flashing red lights” from Berlin over this week's incursion into Russia.
“Ukraine has the right to self defense enshrined in international law,” Germany's foreign ministry told POLITICO in a statement. “This is not limited to its own territory.”
Many politicians in Germany’s conservative opposition have provided even more full-throated support for the Ukrainian offensive. Roderich Kiesewetter, a senior lawmaker with the Christian Democrats, stated that it's totally legitimate to strike staging areas inside Russia with weapons donated by Germany.
“The question of whether Western weapons are involved doesn't come up because, after they are delivered, they are Ukrainian weapons,” said Kiesewetter.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has so far refrained from breaking away from his summer vacation to say anything about the incursion into the Kursk region.
The publication notes that it is still unclear what the long-term goals of the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region are, but four days after it began, there are no signs of an imminent end to hostilities in the area.
Moreover, in the early hours of Friday, Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack on the infrastructure of the Lipetsk region, deep in Russia, hitting a key air base.
Ukrainian authorities have so far refrained from commenting on the operation, although the country's leader Volodymyr Zelensky made the following statement on Thursday: “Russia brought war to our land, and it must feel what it did.”