New NATO Secretary General supports Ukraine’s request for deep strikes into Russia

5 October 2024

During a visit to Kyiv on 3 October, NATO's new Secretary General Mark Rutte increased pressure on hesitant NATO member states—especially the United States and Germany—who have so far refused to give Ukraine the right to use advanced weapons to strike military targets deep inside Russia. Rutte said in a press conference next to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, "Ukraine obviously has the right to defend itself, and international law here is on the side of Ukraine, meaning that this right does not end at the border”. “Russia is pursuing this illegal war, and that means that targeting Russian fighter jets and missiles before they can be used against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure can help save lives", Rutte added.

The United States, Germany and some other European NATO member states fear that allowing Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russia could lead to further escalation, with Moscow recently revising its doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons to amplify the threat.

Rutte is a longtime ally of Ukraine. As Prime Minister of the Netherlands he signed off on the F-16s combat aircraft agreement with Ukraine in 2023. As the new NATO Secretary General, Rutte chose to make his first official visit, just three days into the job—not to a NATO ally—but to Ukraine, a prospective future NATO member, to show support for Ukraine’s two-and-half-year war with Russia. “It was important to me that I come to Ukraine at the start of my mandate to make crystal clear to you, to the people of Ukraine, and to everyone watching, that NATO stands with Ukraine”, Rutte said

Ukraine continues to rely heavily on international military and financial support from Western states. Most of the military assistance has come in the form of bilateral arms transfers, training and other support, which is being coordinated by the US-led Ukraine Defence Contact Group, which meets on an ad hoc basis in the so-called Ramstein format and involves Ministers of Defence and senior military officials from Western-aligned states from around the world. Rutte's support for Kyiv on this issue comes ahead of a crucial meeting of the Contact Group on 12 October to be led by US President Joe Biden comprising all other Ukraine-supporting leaders. 

Washington has been under pressure to lift such restrictions before a difficult winter for Ukraine, when Russia is likely to again target the country’s energy infrastructure.

"The only country here that has crossed a red line is not Ukraine. It is Russia, by starting this war," Rutte said. Zelenskyy said some NATO countries "are prolonging the process" — without naming names. He also called on Western countries to help shoot down Russian drones. "The best way to not forget about Ukraine is to provide weaponry, to provide respective permissions ... and to help down — by the way, the very same Iranian missiles and drones — to shoot them down, just as they are being shot down in the skies of Israel," Zelenskyy said.

“It is crucial, especially ahead of winter, to strengthen Ukraine’s air defence and make real progress in jointly intercepting Russian missiles and drones,” Zelensky reiterated later in his nightly video address.

Meanwhile, in an interview published in the Financial Times on 4 October, the former NATO Secretary General expressed regrets about Western governments not providing Ukraine with much more military support much earlier: “I think we all have to admit, we should have given them more weapons pre-invasion. And we should have given them more advanced weapons, faster, after the invasion. I take my part of the responsibility”. Stoltenberg also addressed the issue of Russia’s red lines and the potential use of nuclear weapons by Russia. “If anything, I pushed for crossing all those so-called red lines that Putin has put up. And we have crossed many of them, and he hasn’t done anything. The reality is that if President Putin wants to escalate with the use of weapons of mass destruction, he can create all the excuses he needs,” Stoltenberg adds. “So far, we have called his bluff”.