Final Word from Monday, May 27, 2024

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told The Economist on Fri. that he thinks "the time has come for allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions they have put on the use of weapons they have donated to Ukraine." The British publication understood this to be an attack on the policy of U.S. Pres. Joe Biden not to allow Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to strike military targets in Russia. The Czech cabinet's envoy for reconstructing Ukraine, Tomáš Kopečný, told Czech Radio last Tues. that this restriction is one of Ukraine's three biggest problems, along with the insufficient quantity of weapons and the shortage of soldiers. Kopečný said that the U.S. policy toward Ukraine from the very start of the war has been guided by a fear of escalation. He told Czech Radio yesterday that the CR hasn't put any restrictions on the use of the weapons it supplies and that it will be very happy if the U.S. and other countries change their own policy on this. The Fiala cabinet doesn't fear escalation. [ Czech Republic United States Russia ]