Europe takes the war to Putin: Netherlands will allow Ukraine to use its F-16 jets to carry out strikes in Russia after US allowed its missiles to strike targets over the border

The Netherlands will allow the Ukrainian Air Force to use its 24 F-16 fighter jets to carry out attacks in Russia, as the US considers allowing Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to directly bomb Russian territory.

This was confirmed by Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren, who: in an interview with Politico said this weekend that there was no “Belgian restriction,” referring to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo’s warning that Kiev will not fly F-16 jets coming from Belgium into Russian airspace.

Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot also said that this decision does not require US permission, even though they produce F-16s.

The use of the aircraft is also not limited to the border area near Kharkiv, as is the case with American weapons.

Ollengren was among senior officials who met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, an independent think tank attended by defense ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military leaders.

Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren confirmed that the Netherlands will allow the Ukrainian air force to use its 24 F-16 fighter jets to carry out attacks in Russia, as reported by Politico.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a press conference after the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue Summit at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on Sunday. Zelenskyy on Sunday urged a group of top defense officials at Asia’s top security conference to attend an upcoming peace summit, saying Ukraine was ready to hear “different proposals and thoughts” on ending the war with Russia .

“We apply the same principle that we have applied to any other delivery of capabilities, which is that once we transfer it to Ukraine, they can use it,” Ollongren said.

“We only ask them to comply with international law and the right to self-defense as enshrined in the UN Charter, which means that they use it to target the military objectives they must pursue in their self-defense,” Ollongren added to it.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multi-role fighter aircraft, originally developed for the United States Air Force.

This comes a few days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that the US is considering allowing Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to directly attack Russian territory, given the changing battlefield dynamics in Ukraine.

It’s the first time a senior Biden administration official has indicated there could be a possible policy change.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft, originally developed for the United States Air Force

Until now, the US had banned Ukraine from using American weapons, such as ATACMS missiles, to target Russian territory.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also suggested that the “time has come to consider whether it will be right to lift some of the restrictions.”

“If they cannot attack military targets on Russian territory, that ties one hand of the Ukrainians behind their back and makes it very difficult for them to conduct defense,” Stoltenberg said at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Blinken chose his words carefully during a meeting with the president of Moldova and was keen to make clear that the US did not encourage or enable attacks on Russian territory.

He said Ukraine “must make its own decisions about how best to defend itself effectively.” We are going to make sure it has the equipment it needs.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has suggested that the United States consider allowing Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons to directly attack Russian territory.

More than two years after Europe’s deadliest war since World War II, Western allies are debating how to stem Russia’s military advance, while Putin increasingly raises the risk of global war. Pictured is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a trip to Portugal last week

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, here with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has also indicated that it may be time for a policy change

Ukrainian soldiers hold a national flag over the coffin of Ukrainian soldier Ruslan Troianchuk, call sign “Friend”, who was killed in Donetsk region

Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffin of a Ukrainian soldier who died in the Donetsk region

Military investigators work at the site of the damaged building that houses the Paradise restaurant after a strike in Donetsk, Russia-controlled Ukraine, earlier this month

Western allies debate how to stop Russia’s military advance, while Russian President Vladimir Putin increasingly raises the risk of global war

“Another feature of our support to Ukraine during this period, now more than two years, has been adapting to the circumstances and the battlefield. What Russia is doing has changed in how it pursues its aggression and escalation,” Blinken said. said.

Officials within the Biden administration have said a policy change is being considered, but no decision has been made yet.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry had warned in September 2022 that if the US were to become involved, it would “cross a red line” and be considered a “direct party to the conflict” in the eyes of the Kremlin if it begin delivering longer-range missiles to Kiev.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of the threat of global conflict if Kiev’s Western allies allow the country to use the weapons they supply to attack inside Russia, something the Ukrainian government is urging its partners to do to allow.

The US, Kiev’s main arms supplier, approved a $61 billion aid package in April after months of delays that worsened artillery shell shortages.