NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared that Russia violated international law by attacking Ukraine and that Kiev has the right to defend itself and NATO countries have the right to help it.
Stoltenberg spoke during a joint press statement with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, where the spring session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is being held.
“Russia’s attack on Ukraine is a flagrant violation of international law. According to international law, Ukraine has the right to defend itself. Self-defense is sanctioned in the UN Charter, self-defense is sanctioned in international law. So, Ukraine has the right to defend itself from Russian attack. We have the right as allied countries in NATO to help Ukraine exercise the right to self-defense,” Stoltenberg said.
The NATO Secretary General also said that the governments of the NATO countries should review the restrictions they have imposed on Ukraine on the use of the armaments they send.
“Some of the allies have lifted the restrictions, others have not. My message is that I think we should reconsider these restrictions, since by having excessive restrictions we are tying one hand to the Ukrainian forces. Restrictions reduce the capacity to defend. Again, these are decisions of member countries, not NATO, and there are different restrictions on different types of weapons. I am not saying that there should be no restrictions at all in the future, but I am saying that we should reconsider the restrictions especially in view of the fighting going on now in the Kharkiv region, where the Russians are defending themselves by standing behind the border line which is almost the same with the front line”, said Stoltenberg.
