The United States’ decision to authorise Ukraine to use missiles supplied by them to fire on targets inside Russia “could have a positive impact in the defence of Ukraine”, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Monday.
Speaking upon his arrival at the European Union’s foreign affairs council in Brussels, he described the US’ decision as an “important development”, and said the matter would be discussed by the EU’s 27 member states’ foreign ministers at the day’s meeting.
“At the same time, we must be aware of how the situation is developing. We have to coordinate very closely with the Americans,” he added.
With this in mind, he said the EU “cannot handle alone” the various pressing matters on the globe at the moment, including the war in Ukraine, the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and developments in the Horn of Africa.
“The important thing is to be in a situation where cooperation is created rather than differences,” he said.
“This is not the time to keep our distance, this is the time to work together, and this is a necessity, not just an option.”
US President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the green light to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia on Sunday, with sources telling news agency Reuters that the country plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days.
The move comes after months of pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to be given permission to hit Russian military targets far from the border with US-made weapons, and also comes after Russia deployed troops from North Korea to supplement its own forces inside Ukraine.
Zelenskiy said in an address on Sunday evening that the missiles would “speak for themselves”, and that “strikes are not made with words”, indicating that he would not announce strikes in advance.
One EU member state has already expressed its disagreement with the decision, with Hungary, which enjoys the closest ties to Russia of any of the bloc’s 27 members, having already issued a condemnation.
The country’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on social media that “the pro-war mainstream has launched a final, desperate attack on the new reality.”
“In their final desperation, these pro-war forces do not even seem to shy away from the worst: expanding the war in Ukraine to a global scale,” he added.
He described the current US administration as “hawkish politicians ousted from power”, referencing the election earlier this month which Donald Trump, who has won the vehement support of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban won, and added that they “refuse to take note of the will of the people”.
“This is not only democratic, but also extremely dangerous,” he added.
Szijjarto will join Kombos and the 25 other member states’ foreign ministers at Monday’s meeting.
