(NewsWorthy.news) – The Netherlands has joined other NATO nations in approving Ukraine’s use of weapons it supplies inside Russian territory. It has also, along with Denmark, specifically stated that it has no objection to Kyiv using F-16s to attack Russia. Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot argued that the “general principle” of the right to self-defense does not enforce boundaries for the use of weapons. Kyiv is set to receive its first F-16s within the next few weeks, after Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen declared that Kyiv’s policy was “within the rules of war”.
In August 2023, the United States approved the deliveries of the F-16s from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine. Rasmussen has recently claimed that Denmark made it very clear from the start that it would be acceptable to attack targets within the “aggressor’s territory” on grounds of self-defense. The two countries are part of a fighter jet coalition approved by the U.S., which also includes Belgium and Norway. The Netherlands pledged 24 of the American-made F-16s to Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered nuclear drills in May in response to perceived provocation from France and the United Kingdom. In June he threatened to arm nations to attack Western targets. The comments followed British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s statement in May, in which he left it up to Ukraine whether or not to use missiles supplied by the U.K. to strike targets within Russian territory.
U.S. President Joe Biden has recently given Kyiv his discrete approval to carry out strikes within Russian territory, having previously stated that the White House opposes them. The change in rhetoric among Western leaders marks increasing tension between NATO and Moscow. The Kremlin and pacifist critics in the West have attacked both the “provocative” comments by Western leaders and the addition of new members to the NATO alliance. When Sweden formally joined NATO in March 2024, after Finland joined the alliance several months previously, Swedish pacifists called the move “reckless” and criticized the language used by the country’s leaders that suggested direct conflict with Russia was imminent.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has dismissed the recent warnings by Putin, claiming it is “nothing new” that Russia is trying to threaten the West into ceasing its support for Ukraine. Agreement between the nations of the jet alliance that the F-16s can be used in Russian territory was not unanimous; Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that the jets should only be used to attack Russian forces within Ukraine.
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