On 29 August, in an interview with Politico, Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba reiterated that Ukraine needs that allies lift restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range weapons for the strikes deep inside Russia. He also sought support for Poland to intercept Russian missiles over western Ukraine.
The interview took place before his participation in an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Kuleba emphasized that intercepting Russian aerial targets in Ukrainian airspace would not make the countries involved a party to the Russo-Ukrainian war.
“The argument that this would make some of them party to the war is void,” Kuleba told Politico, later also adding. “You don’t enter the war by shooting down a missile or drone that flies in your direction and may actually inflict damage on your own territory.”
Kuleba explained that Ukraine is seeking support from NATO partners to enable Poland to build up its defensive mechanisms. He noted that Poland’s air defense system is integrated with NATO’s, and therefore, Poland cannot act unilaterally in this matter.
“We are talking about planes [not only] flying in Polish air space but being capable of intercepting Russian missiles in Ukrainian airspace,” he said.
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that NATO is skeptical about assisting in shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine, and emphasized that Poland is reluctant to act alone without NATO support.
Minister Kuleba told Politico that Ukraine’s top priority is convincing allies to allow the use of Western-supplied weapons for long-range strikes on military targets deep inside Russia.
“I want them to go back to their capitals … to get support to finally lift restrictions on long-range strikes on all legitimate military targets in Russia,” Kuleba said before the meeting with European foreign ministers.
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