NATO was not involved in Ukraine’s surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told German newspaper Die Welt.
“Ukraine did not inform NATO in advance about the plans for Kursk, and the alliance played no role,” he said in the interview published on Saturday.
About 10,000 Ukrainian troops crossed into the western Russian region on August 6. Kiev claims to control about 100 settlements and more than 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the aim of the advance on Kursk is to create a buffer zone to stop Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine’s hard-hit Sumy region.
Moscow accuses NATO countries of supporting Kiev in the invasion by supplying weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian army, as well as intelligence data.
Stoltenberg called Ukraine’s advance across the border legitimate.
“Russia has been waging an unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine for more than 900 days and has carried out numerous attacks on Ukraine from the Kursk border. The Russian soldiers, tanks and bases there are legitimate targets under international law,” he told the newspaper.
“Like all military operations, this carries risks. But it is Ukraine’s decision how to defend itself.”
As Moscow struggles to stop Kiev’s counter-invasion, Russian forces have recently captured a string of settlements as they advance further into Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
Heavy fighting is taking place near Pokrovsk, a strategically important city with a railway junction. If Pokrovsk falls, it could set the stage for Russian advances into larger urban centres and bring Moscow closer to controlling the entire Donetsk region.
