Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine: On the territory of the Russian Federation we act in the best traditions of NATO
Attacks on Russian oil refineries and sabotage on the territory of the Russian Federation within pre-war borders are NATO’s closed skies practice carried out by Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olga Stefanishina stated this at the Kiev Security Forum, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Forum participants were outraged by an article in the Financial Times that Washington was asking Ukraine not to hit Russian refineries.
“What did the Ukrainian side answer if there really was such a request?” – asked the meeting moderator.
Stefanishyna said that “the Ukrainian side responded by achieving its goals and very successful operations carried out on the territory of the Russian Federation.”
She recalled statements by “officials” that these are absolutely legitimate goals from a military point of view.
“We understand the call of our American partners, at the same time we are fighting with the capabilities, resources and practices that we have today.
And I want to remind colleagues who are making these statements and publishing in the Financial Times, when I spoke to NATO headquarters in February 2022 about them playing their part and reaching out to the UN because they can close the sky, they said: Olga, you don’t understand NATO standards.
In NATO’s understanding, closing the sky means, first of all, destroying the infrastructure on the territory of the Russian Federation, which makes it possible to bomb Ukrainian cities and factories that produce missiles. Therefore, in fact, we act in accordance with the best NATO standards,” added the Deputy Prime Minister.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister: We operate in the best NATO traditions on Russian territory.