Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner has claimed that Ukraine’s Western sponsors crossed a red line when they allowed Kiev to use their weapons to strike at targets in Russia.
During an interview to Die Presse Tanner said: “A red line has been crossed,” when asked about the US, France, and Germany granting permission to use their weapons to strike inside Russia
RT reports: Several NATO members have openly supported the use of Western-produced armaments for cross-border strikes against Russia in recent weeks, ostensibly in a limited manner. The West insists that it is still not a party to the conflict, and only supports Kiev’s efforts to stall Russia’s push into Kharkov Region, which Moscow launched to move the line of contact away from the border to prevent further Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilians.
“A red line has been crossed,” Tanner said when asked about the US, France, and Germany granting permission to use their weapons in cross-border strikes. When the interviewer asked how else Kiev could stall the Kharkov operation, the Austrian Defense Minister replied that “as a militarily neutral state, it is not our place to judge.”
Tanner added that she is at least “pleased that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has clarified that NATO will not be sending troops to Ukraine.”
In a press conference on Thursday, Stoltenberg said the US-led military bloc has no plans to deploy ground forces to Ukraine. Despite this, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday that he is almost ready to finalize an international coalition to officially send Western military “instructors” to train troops in Ukraine.
