Danish PM to allies: Stop talking about ‘red lines’ and let Ukraine strike Russia

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called Monday for Ukraine’s allies to greenlight the use of donated weapons for long-range strikes against Russia.

“My suggestion is, let us end the discussion about red lines,” Frederiksen told Bloomberg in an interview that aired Monday. Ukraine’s benefactors had made a “mistake” by engaging in handwringing over Kyiv hitting targets inside Russia, she added, as doing so had given Moscow “too good a card in their hands.”

Arms-donating countries, particularly the U.S., have set restrictions on Ukraine’s use of their weapons in long-range strikes, due to fears of being dragged further into a conflict with Russia.

But calls have grown in recent months for those restrictions to be lifted, including from the EU’s top diplomat and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said it is crucial for Kyiv’s victory. Denmark, Finland and Sweden are among the countries that have already said Ukraine can do as it wishes.

“The most important red line has been crossed already. And that was when the Russians entered Ukraine,” Frederiksen said. “So I will not accept this premise, and I will never allow anyone from Russia to decide what is the right thing to do in NATO, in Europe or in Ukraine.”

Kyiv’s forces have increasingly attacked targets inside Russia, seizing almost 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory in the Kursk region in a cross-border incursion last month. ”It is only fair to destroy Russian terrorists where they are, where they launch their strikes from,” Zelenskyy said, asking for Ukraine’s allies to allow his forces to strike air bases and arms depots, among other strategic targets, deeper in Russian territory.

Almost 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the conflict has turned into a grinding war of attrition, with few gains on either side. Zelenskyy is this week visiting the U.S. to rally support for Kyiv and present his “victory plan.”