NATO Chief Says Ukraine Has Right To Defend Itself, Commenting On Drone Attack On Moscow

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2023) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that Ukraine has the right to defend itself, commenting on the recent drone strikes against Moscow allegedly carried out by Kiev.

"We have exactly the same position now as we had at the beginning of the war, and that is that Ukraine has the right to defend itself," he said ahead of the informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo, answering the question whether the alliance's stance on the acceptability of striking Russia's territory has changed.

Stoltenberg noted that NATO has the right to support Ukraine and will do so as long as needed.

"We will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes and that does not make NATO and NATO allies a party to the conflict. We have the right to support Ukraine without becoming a party to the conflict.

And of course, fundamentally, NATO has two tasks in this conflict: one is to provide support to Ukraine as we do, the other is to prevent this conflict ... to escalate beyond Ukraine," he said.

The NATO chief also said that, for this purpose, the bloc has been strengthening its eastern flank for a while, and it wants to send a clear message it is ready to defend itself as well.

On Tuesday, eight drones were intercepted in and near Moscow in what the Russian Defense Ministry said was an attack carried out by Ukraine. Five drones were shot down and three diverted off course, not causing any significant damage or casualties. The Kremlin said this was likely Kiev's retaliation for earlier Russian strikes. Moscow said the West does not want to condemn the attack.