Kuleba at NATO meeting: “Ukraine now needs weapons above all”

At the NATO meeting in Brussels, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba called for one thing above all: more arms deliveries for his country. He received support from both Secretary General Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Baerbock.

In Brussels, NATO foreign ministers are discussing more support for Ukraine. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also takes part in the meeting – and sets a clear priority.

Kuleba emphasized that his agenda for the meeting consisted of only three points: “It’s weapons, weapons, weapons.” The best way to help Ukraine now is to give the country everything it needs to put Russian President Vladimir Putin in his place and defeat the Russian army in Ukraine to stop the war from escalating.

In this context, Kuleba again criticized the German government. With regard to arms deliveries, Germany could do more “given its reserves and capacities”. But the procedures and decision-making took too long. “While Berlin has time, Kyiv has none,” Kuleba warned.

Baerbock: “Ukraine has a right to self-defense”

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock assured Ukraine that NATO countries would continue to supply weapons. The Greens politician said that the partners are looking at how Ukraine can be supported more intensively and in a coordinated manner in the future. Ukraine has a right to self-defense and this will be promoted together with different partners. Baerbock announced another informal working meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin to take place in May. At the same time, the strengthening of the alliance’s defense capability and better protection of the south-eastern flank of the alliance should also be discussed.

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, also appealed to the members of the alliance to expand their arms deliveries to Ukraine. In doing so, NATO countries should not only focus on anti-tank and anti-ship weapons, but provide further support in the form of many different systems, both light and heavier. Ukraine is fighting a defensive war, Stoltenberg emphasized: “So this distinction between offensive and defensive weapons actually has no real meaning.”

However, when it came to deploying NATO troops in Ukraine, Stoltenberg gave a clear no. “We also have a responsibility to prevent this conflict from escalating beyond Ukraine and becoming more deadly, more dangerous and more destructive,” he reiterated.

Scholz assures further weapon deliveries

Chancellor Olaf Scholz also announced on Wednesday that Germany would send more weapons to Ukraine in coordination with its EU and NATO partners. “Everything that makes sense and works quickly will be delivered,” said Scholz in the Bundestag. His government will “take everything that is right and sensible on the way”. These deliveries should contribute to the German government’s goal “that Russia does not win this war”.

Melnyk disagrees with Defense Minister Lambrecht

However, the federal government will not provide any precise information about the “type and number of weapons supplied,” Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced shortly afterwards in the current hour in the Bundestag. That was agreed with the Ukrainian government. Ukraine had “expressly” asked Germany to do so.

However, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, contradicted this in the evening ARD broadcast “Maischberger”. There is no such agreement. Not talking about the deliveries is “the line that the minister decided to take,” said Melnyk. “Unfortunately, we don’t have an open dialogue about what we need.” Meanwhile, every day costs “far too many lives” in Ukraine.

By the end of March, Germany had approved arms sales worth 186 million euros for Ukraine, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate announced on Tuesday. These included bazookas, anti-aircraft missiles, machine guns and several million rounds of ammunition. In the first quarter of this year, only NATO partners the Netherlands and Great Britain received more weapons and other armaments from Germany.