Ukraine working to expand area of use of partners' weapons inside Russia - Kuleba

Ukraine's partners have made a very important and long-awaited step by allowing the use of their weapons on Russian soil, but Ukraine will continue to work on expanding the area of their use.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this at a joint briefing with his Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna in Kyiv on Monday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

He explained that Ukraine's partners had made a "very important and long-awaited step in the right direction" by lifting the ban on the use of weapons provided by them to strike military targets inside Russia.

"It has its own rules that must be followed. In short, we appreciate the decision and we will continue to work with our partners to expand the area of use. Why did they impose these restrictions? My answer: I don't know. But this is a big decision and we should respect and welcome it," Kuleba said.

He said that during the last two years, "small decisions are made at first, but then they develop into bigger decisions" and added that Ukraine would work on this.

Tsahkna, in turn, said that from day one there were no restrictions for Ukraine from Estonia, because according to international law the country has every reason to defend itself and strike military infrastructure in Russia.

"We defend this position among our allies and discuss it during our NATO meetings. I agree with Dmytro that these steps taken by the U.S., Germany, Sweden and many other countries to lift the ban are a step in the right direction, but my position is very clear: we cannot restrict Ukraine from using long-range missiles to defend itself and cause harm the Russian war machine," the minister said.