MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Canada and Finland okay Ukraine using their weapons to attack Russia

“Russia is waging an illegal war of aggression in Ukraine and Ukraine has the right to self-defense,” Elina Valtonen explained

Just one week after the final destination of the war equipment supplied to Ukraine rose tensions between Moscow and London, Canadian and Finnish authorities Wednesday okayed Kyiv's using the weapons supplied by both countries in a potential offensive against Russia

There are “no conditions on the final recipient of arms shipments to Ukraine,” Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said during a press conference alongside her Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billström, in Stockholm. She also noted she planned to advocate in favor of Ukraine's unfettered use of the weapons it received during NATO's gathering in Prague on May 30-31. “We believe we have to be aggressive on this issue,” she argued because “Russia has no red lines.” Regarding Ukraine's defense, “we help them and we are on their side,” Joly added.

Her statements were very much in line with those of British Foreign Secretary David Cameron earlier this month, which triggered an escalation in tensions. Moscow said that if British weapons were used in an offensive against its territory Russia would feel entitled to strike any UK domain worldwide in retaliation, which included Overseas Territories such as the Falkland Islands or Gibraltar.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen also made it clear Wednesday that Kyiv was allowed to use weapons donated by her country to attack targets on Russian territory. “Finland has not imposed specific restrictions on its material assistance to Ukraine, but takes it for granted that the material will be used in accordance with international law,” Valtonen stressed. The United Nations (UN) recognizes the right of an attacked country to defend itself.

“Russia is waging an illegal war of aggression in Ukraine and Ukraine has the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. This also includes attacks against military targets on the attacker's territory necessary for self-defense,” Valtonen also stressed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has for weeks requested a green light from his Western partners to attack Russian territory with weapons furnished to him. In his view, Ukraine cannot protect populations in the northeast when Russia attacks from across the border. Kyiv also claims to lack sufficient air defense systems.

Valtonen's remarks came after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged allied countries to ponder allowing Ukraine to attack Russia on its own territory with Western weapons, which has been a restriction on some of the donations of weapons to Kyiv. Valtonen will be joining Joly and other dignitaries in Prague on May 30-31 ahead of July's NATO Summit in Washington.

In this scenario, Russian President Vladimir Putin has cautioned NATO members to “be aware of what they are playing with” because many of them were “states with a small territory and a very dense population” that “should take this factor into account before they talk about attacking deep into Russian territory.”