After hearing from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia yesterday, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly issued a “declaration” for NATO allies to accelerate the delivery of weapons to the Kiev regime and lift restrictions that prohibit their use against military targets inside Russia. “Ukraine must be provided with all that it needs, as quickly as possible and for as long as it takes for it to win,” it said, reported a NATO press release on May 27.
The statement urged Allied governments “to support Ukraine in its international right to defend itself by lifting some restrictions on the use of weapons provided by NATO Allies to strike legitimate targets in Russia.” The “hard-hitting” declaration was approved by a large majority of the more-than-200 lawmakers (but, apparently, not unanimously—ed.) from across the 32-nation Alliance, at a plenary meeting attended by Stoltenberg and Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev.
The declaration specified that NATO members should “clearly affirm that their strategic goal is Ukraine’s victory” and “urgently step up and speed up the delivery of the military assistance which Ukraine needs to win.” In addition, the Assembly urged NATO governments to “prepare a long-term strategy and proactive measures of modern containment of Russia in order to counter the Russian threat in all its dimensions, actively defend democracy and the rules-based international order … and contest Russia’s aggressive political, military and hybrid activities."
The President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Polish MP Michal Szczerba, addressed the meeting, declaring: “They need our help. Not in two years. Not in two months. Not even in two weeks. They need it now. We must speed up and step up. Give Ukraine everything it needs. Ukraine can only defend itself if it can attack Russia’s supply lines and Russian bases of operation. It is time to recognize this reality and let Ukraine do what it must. NATO will be significantly weakened, losing credibility, if we continue assisting with half measures.”
