Ukraine should have the capability to strike the archers, not just the arrows, Borrell says in blog

In his latest blog, EU High Representative Josep Borrell has supported Ukraine’s right to target key Russian military installations involved in the Russian war against Ukraine – “wherever they may be, as it is allowed by international law which does not stop at Russia’s border”.

The blog was published on 15 September, following the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy, where Ukrainian President Zelenskyy addressed the audience, presenting, in Borrell’s words, the “grim realities” of the war in Ukraine.

Borrell reminded that Ukraine still did not have authorisation to use western weapons to strike the airfields and launch sites deep inside Russia from which these attacks originate. This allows the Russian aggressors to bring “grief and destruction to Ukraine with impunity from a position of safety”, says Borrell.

“In my opinion Ukraine should have the capability to target the source of these attacks – ‘to strike the archers, not just the arrows’,” Borrell said. 

He admitted that the EU did not have a common position in this matter, a situation that was very costly in terms of Ukrainian lives and affected the credibility of EU resolve to support Ukraine, especially against the backdrop of Russia’s escalating bombing campaign against civilian targets.

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Borrell blog