Zelensky asks international allies for explicit permission to attack Russian territory with Western weapons

kyiv and London sign a credit agreement for combat supplies worth a provisional maximum of 2.3 billion euros

Jul 19. () –

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked his international allies to give his forces explicit permission to attack Russian territory with the weapons they are supplying him in order to destroy, in his words, the positions from which Russia launches missiles against his country.

As Zelensky explained during a meeting with the UK Cabinet – the first of an international leader since then US President Bill Clinton in 1997 – “Russia’s attempts to expand the war can be stopped if restrictions on the use of Western weapons against Russian forces are lifted.”

“When we are able to strike beyond the immediate vicinity of the border, including at Russian military air bases, we will not only protect ourselves from Russian attacks, but also protect our frontline positions and cities from Russian bombs,” he added in a statement from the Ukrainian presidency.

The president said that Russia uses at least 3,500 guided missiles against Ukraine every month, bombs that cannot be intercepted. What Ukraine can destroy, he said, are their launching positions.

“I therefore ask once again,” he said before the Council of Ministers and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, “that the United Kingdom show its leadership and ask other allies to remove these restrictions because we need this step forward to force Russia to pursue peace.”

CREDIT AGREEMENT

At the same time, the Ministers of Defence of Ukraine and the United Kingdom, Rustem Umerov and John Healey, have signed an agreement between the governments of the two countries on official credit support for the development of Ukraine’s defence capabilities.

This document “will facilitate the launch of Ukrainian-British projects in this sector” and includes the supply, maintenance and partial production of air defence systems, armoured vehicles and ammunition.

The agreement stipulates that “British suppliers can enter into loan agreements and contracts with Ukraine for a total amount of £2 billion (€2.3 billion) with the possibility of increasing this amount in the future.”

“As a result, by 2026, the Ukrainian Defence Forces will be equipped with air defence systems, radars and strike capabilities, will obtain technologies and will establish partial production of guns, spare parts and components for artillery systems and armoured vehicles of the Western type,” the statement of the Ukrainian President’s Office added.