Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has described Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into Russia’s Kursk region as a legitimate form of self-defense.

“Ukraine has a right to defend itself,” he told a German newspaper on Saturday, August 31, 2024.

“And according to international law, this right does not stop at the border,” he added.

“The Russian soldiers, tanks and bases [in Kursk] are legitimate targets under international law,” Stoltenberg emphasized.

The Secretary General of the NATO Alliance also rejected the Kremlin’s accusation that the West was allegedly informed in advance about the attack on Russian territory.

“Ukraine did not coordinate its planning of the Kursk offensive operation with NATO in advance. In this sense, NATO did not play any role.”
Jens Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg said that Zelensky had clarified the bold operation “aims to create a buffer zone to prevent further Russian attacks from across the border.”

Stoltenberg admitted that like all military operations the operation of the Armed Forces in the Kursk Oblast is associated with risks, “but it is up to Ukraine to decide how to defend itself.”

The offensive, which caught the Kremlin off guard when it was launched from Ukraine’s Sumy region on August 6, is now in its fourth week.

Ukrainian troops claim to have captured dozens of small towns and villages across over 1,200 square kilometers (around 500 square miles) of territory and have claimed to have taken hundreds of Russian prisoners of war.

Stoltenberg, who is stepping down as NATO chief in October, also welcomed Germany’s commitment to continue its support for Ukraine – despite Berlin’s plans to reduce its own direct contribution to Kyiv in next year’s budget.

He praised “Germany’s clear commitment to remaining Ukraine’s primary military donor in Europe and the second-biggest worldwide [after the United States].”

The German government has justified plans to cut direct aid to Ukraine from €7.48 billion to around €4 billion in 2025 by highlighting a European Union plan to divert interest accumulated from frozen Russian assets held within the bloc to Kyiv.

On Friday, the U.K. said that Article 51 of the United Nations charter gave Kyiv the right to “project force” onto Russian territory given Moscow’s continued attacks on civilian infrastructure.

“Ukraine has the right to self-defense against Russian attacks,” said Fergus Eckersley, U.K. political coordinator at the U.N.

“This does not preclude its right to project force into Russian territory, so long as action complies with international law.”

“Russia cannot step up the war from its own soil, while increasing attacks on the civilian population, and expect Ukraine not to seek to remove the source of the threat.”
Fergus Eckersley

European Union High Commissioner Josep Borrell also said on Friday that it was up to individual EU member states to decide on whether to let Ukraine use the long-range weapons each has supplied.

No Weapon Capable Of Changing Battlefield Dynamic

Meanwhile, David Silbey, history professor at Cornell University, told a news agency that no single weapon could suddenly change the battlefield dynamic.

He said that since the start of the war, there has been a continuing belief that if only the West gave Ukraine a certain weapon such as M1 tanks, Leopard tanks, F-16s or ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) “the course of the war would change.”

“Now, it’s if only the U.S. would allow Ukraine to use the ATACMS deeper into Russia,” Silbey noted.

“The problem is that none of these technological wonder solutions have fulfilled that war-winning vision. They’ve all been useful, but this war is not going to be won because of some high-tech super weapon.”
David Silbey