PRAGUE -- The chairman of the NATO Military Committee said the question of whether to allow Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia with Western-made long-range missiles is a "political discussion" but, from a military standpoint, would be within Ukraine's legal right.
Dutch Navy Admiral Rob Bauer told RFE/RL in an interview on September 14 that the lifting of the restriction is not a question that NATO is discussing, but in his opinion as military leader the answer would be yes.
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"In accordance with the UN charter and in accordance with the law of armed conflict, if you are attacked by a nation, then you are allowed to defend yourself," Bauer said. "That defense doesn't stop at your borders. You are allowed to actually attack the enemy on its own territory."
Bauer spoke with RFE/RL as the NATO Military Committee -- the alliance's highest military authority -- met in Prague for a two-day conference to discuss strategic developments within the alliance in light of decisions made during the NATO summit in July.
The meeting took place a day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss whether to approve Kyiv's request to use long-range missiles against targets in Russia.
Bauer said the threats voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin and former President Dmitry Medvedev in response to those discussions showed their frustration over how the war is going 2 1/2 years after Russia launched it.
"If I think it's primarily a proof of how frustrated they are because Russia has not achieved any of their strategic goals in Ukraine," Bauer said.
SEE ALSO: Russia's Medvedev Threatens Nuke Strike That Would Turn Kyiv Into 'Gray Spot'Putin said earlier this week that the West would be "at war" with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike with Western-made long-range missiles, while Medvedev said on September 14 that Russia could destroy Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, with non-nuclear weapons if the West lifted its restrictions.
Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of the country's security council, also said Moscow could resort to nuclear weapons.
Bauer said the threats must be taken seriously, but what NATO and the other allies of Ukraine are doing "is within the UN charter, within the international law. And we will continue doing so."
In his speech to the conference, Bauer praised the Ukrainian military for proving to the world that there is "nothing they cannot do" and only need the support from their allies to achieve their goals.
"And they will have it -- not only now, not only for the duration of the war, but also in the decades to follow," Bauer said in comments to the conference.
SEE ALSO: NATO Strongly Backs Ukraine's 'Irreversible Path' To Membership, Outlines Plans To Make Alliance StrongerNATO allies led by the United States have donated tens of billions of dollars of military equipment to help Ukraine fight the war, and Bauer said Ukraine's forces are growing "more and more interoperable" by the day with NATO forces, moving the country closer to NATO membership.
"One day, we will stand side by side under the NATO banner," he said. "Ukraine deserves our unrelenting support, not only because of who they are as a people but also because of who we are as NATO."
Bauer also said NATO needs need a much larger defense-industry production capacity and it must be better coordinated to increase deterrence.
"The more we ramp up our deterrence, the better chance we have of protecting the freedoms that we hold dear and preventing war from ever entering our soil," he said.
Army Lieutenant General Karel Rehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, also commented on the war in Ukraine, saying it is a matter of survival for Ukraine and a fight for the principles of democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity that NATO exists to defend.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine Closer To Long-Range Strike Permission As Biden, Starmer Meet"It is imperative that we -- at the top of our militaries -- provide all necessary assistance to Ukraine, be it in the form of training or supplying weapons and other military equipment," Rehka said in an address to the conference on September 14. "By supporting Ukraine, we are also strengthening our unity and containing the Russian threat."
Both Bauer and Rehka agreed on the need for greater defense expenditures, with Rehka saying, "It is evident that 2 percent of GDP on defense spending will not be enough."
Rehka also warned that threats from Russia come not only on the conventional battlefield but also in the form of hybrid tactics, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and kinetic acts of violence.
"All these actions are designed to sow fear and undermine the unity of our societies. We must, therefore, take a broad approach…that integrates our conventional military capabilities with robust cyberdefenses and strong civil-military cooperation."