Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said it’s imperative that NATO supply Ukraine quickly as the war continues.
“You need to be with us not just as long as it takes, but also supply us with everything required as fast as it is required,” Kuleba said.
Kuleba has been attending the NATO and G7 meetings in Bucharest.
“I’ve thanked all the states here, who said they will stand with Ukraine as long as needed. It is a very significant sign for us, as we did not have such unanimous support on this point before,” he said.
Kuleba also welcomed new equipment.
“These are transformers, generators, weapons, winter uniforms. I cannot talk about all of it, but there are also 155mm artillery, shells, armored vehicles among these. All this will soon be delivered to Ukraine and strengthen our armed forces,” he said.
Speaking about the US Patriot air defense system, Kuleba said, “Until now nobody would talk about this issue, except us. We were the only one to raise it. But now this issue is being discussed. This is a very serious and substantive discussion.”
On Tuesday, CNN reported that the US is considering sending the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine to support their air defense capabilities against incoming Russian attacks, according to a senior US defense official.
Kuleba said he had urged a change of approach by Ukraine’s western donors, which was now paying off.
“Now everything is being supplied,” he said. “These decisions have been taken after some kind of tragedy took place on the frontline, which left no other choice but for this decision to be taken. I said: ‘Change your logics. Do not wait for something bad to happen. Take this decision now in order to prevent the tragedies, to act more proactive and liberate more Ukrainian territories and Ukrainian citizens.'”
On infrastructure: Kuleba also met with G7 foreign ministers about aid for restoring Ukraine’s heavily damaged infrastructure, as some 30% of power capacity currently disabled.
“The first option is to buy electricity in the EU. But prices on the EU market are much higher than in Ukraine, so additional financial support will be needed,” he said. Another option is to source the necessary energy equipment, transformers and generators that will help alleviate energy shortfalls, he said.
The United States is among several countries pledging fresh aid to assist with repairing power infrastructure damaged by Russian missile attacks.
