Ukraine’s foreign minister today demanded “weapons, weapons and weapons” as he arrived for crunch talks with NATO leaders.
Dmytro Kuleba urged coalition members to bolster the supply of munitions to his country so troops can fight Russian invaders and stop the war spreading beyond Ukraine ’s borders.
Standing alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stolteberg at coalition headquarters in Brussels, Mr Kuleba said: “My agenda is very simple, it has only three items on it - weapons, weapons and weapons.
“We are confident that the best way to help Ukraine now is to provide it with all necessary to contain Putin and to defeat Russian army in Ukraine, in the territory of Ukraine so that the war does not spill over.”
He added: “The deal Ukraine is offering is fair - you give us weapons, we sacrifice our lives and the war is contained in Ukraine.”
He called for warplanes, anti-ship missles, “heavy air defence systems” and armoured personnel carriers to be deployed to help prevent more atrocities like those uncovered in the town of Bucha, where retreating Kremlin troops were accused of rape, torture and executing civilians.
Mr Kuleba said: “In recent weeks, the Ukrainian army and the entire Ukrainian nation has demonstrated that we know how to fight, we know how to win - but without sustainable and sufficient supplies of all weapons requested by Ukraine, these wins will be accompanied with enormous sacrifices.
“The more weapons we get, and the sooner they arrive in Ukraine, the more human lives will be saved, the more cities and villages will not be destructed and there will be no more Buchas.”
He singled out Germany, as he demanded more help from Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“It’s clear that Germany can do more given its reserves, its capacity,” said Mr Kuleba.
“While Berlin has time, Kyiv does not.”
He also revealed his frustration at NATO ministers who make a distinction between offensive and defensive weapons.
Mr Kuleba said they should “put aside their hesitations, their reluctance to provide Ukraine with everything it needs, because as weird as it may sound, today weapons serve the purpose of peace”.
“Every weapon used in the territory of Ukraine by the Ukrainian army against a foreign aggressor is defensive by definition,” he fumed.
“This distinction between defensive and offensive doesn’t make any sense when it comes to the situation in my country.
“Those countries which are saying, ‘We will provide Ukraine with defensive weapons but we are not in a position to provide them with offensive weapons’, they are hypocritical.
“This is simply (an) unfair, unjustified approach.”
Mr Stoltenberg, who will lead talks with the 30-member nations and Mr Kuleba today, backed the foreign minister’s approach.
“Ukraine is fighting a defensive war so this distinction between offensive and defensive weapons doesn’t actually have any real meaning,” said the former Norwegian Prime Minister.
