Ukraine on Thursday urged Nato to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons against targets in Russia, saying it would be “game-changer” in its war with Moscow, while China slammed Nato criticism of its support for Russia as biased and malicious.
Nato members issued a declaration in support of Ukraine at a summit in Washington on Wednesday, promising additional aid and pledging to support its “irreversible path” to Nato membership. Nato leaders held talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday afternoon.
Andryi Yermak, the chief of the Ukrainian president’s cabinet, said he was “satisfied” with Nato’s summit statement on Wednesday, but added that restrictions on Ukraine’s freedom to strike targets inside Russia needed to be removed.
He told a public forum on the final day of the three-day Nato summit that Russia had no restrictions and it would be “a real game-changer” if Ukraine’s allies could lift all limits on the use of the weapons they supply to Ukraine.
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Nato members have taken different approaches to how Ukraine can use weapons they donate. Some have made clear Kyiv can use them to strike targets deep inside Russia while the United States has taken a narrower approach, allowing its weapons to be used only just inside Russia’s border against targets supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine.
The US and its allies have used this week’s summit to project unity in the face of what the see as a rising threat to Europe from Russia and China.
US president Joe Biden declared on Wednesday that “We can and will defend every inch of Nato territory.”
Wednesday’s Nato declaration included sharp words about China, calling it “a decisive enabler” of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. It also said Beijing continued to pose systemic challenges to Europe and to security.
China’s foreign ministry said the declaration was biased and “sowing discord” and its mission to the European Union described it as being “full of Cold War mentality and belligerent rhetoric, and China-related content full of provocations, lies, incitement and smears.”
Nato member Hungary said ahead of a meeting of the 32 Nato countries with partners from the so-called Indo-Pacific Four – Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea – that it did not want Nato to become an “anti-China” bloc, and would not support it doing so.
Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto told Hungarian state television Nato was “a defence alliance” and that “we can’t organise it into an anti-China bloc”.
China remains an important trade and investment partner for Hungary, while other European countries are seeking to become less dependent on Beijing.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban irked other Nato members with surprise visits to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing in the past two weeks on a self-styled “peace mission”. He and former US president Donald Trump were set to meet on Thursday at the Mr Trump’s Florida home, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
His meeting in Moscow with Russian president Vladimir Putin in particular angered some fellow Nato allies, who said the trip handed legitimacy to Mr Putin’s claims to Ukrainian territory seized since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Mr Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said he would not speculate on whether Mr Orban’s trip to Moscow was co-ordinated with Mr Trump, Mr Biden’s rival in the November US election, but said the Ukrainians had grave misgivings about any effort to negotiate a peace deal without including them.
“So whatever adventurism is being undertaken without Ukraine’s consent or support is not something that’s consistent with our policy, the foreign policy of the United States,” he said.
For its part, China has repeatedly lashed out at Nato criticisms and has warned against the alliance’s expansion into the Indo-Pacific.
The leaders of Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia have forged stronger ties with Nato amid rising concerns over China’s pressure on rival claimants in disputed waters in the region and on democratic Taiwan, the global hub of cutting edge chip production, which Beijing claims as its own.
Looming over the Washington meetings are fears that the US presidential election could yield a sharp change in Washington’s support for Ukraine and Nato.
Mr Biden’s uneven performance in a June 27th debate against Mr Trump and low public approval ratings have raised fresh doubts about his mental fitness to stand again, with nine Democratic members of Congress and one Democratic senator calling for him to step aside.
Mr Zelenskiy met both Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Washington on Wednesday. He is keen to cement ties with US lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle in the event that Mr Trump is re-elected.
A Nato declaration said the allies would provide at least €40 billion in military aid to Ukraine within the next year, although they stopped short of the multiyear commitment Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg had sought.
Nato and the four Indo-Pacific countries are set to launch new joint projects at the summit – on Ukraine, artificial intelligence, disinformation, and cybersecurity.
Greeting South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, Mr Stoltenberg said Russia’s closer co-operation with North Korea showed how European and Indo-Pacific security were interlinked.
He said Nato was “deeply concerned” Russia could support North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs in return for weapons Nato says North Korea has provided Russia for use in Ukraine. – Reuters