Kuleba: Word "Weapons" Was Crucial, Today It Is "Faster"

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called on partners on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Bucharest to speed up their weapons deliveries and help restore Ukraine's shattered power grid.

He stated this at a joint briefing with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Kuleba noted that last time they met, his three words were "weapons, weapons, weapons." Since then Ukraine has received significant assistance, which helped it liberate a large part of the territories.

"Today, I have three other words, which are faster, faster and faster. We appreciate what has been done, but the war still goes on. We proved that we could beat Russia, we proved that we could win together for the interest of the Euro-Atlantic space and the whole world. Decisions on weapons and production lines have to be made faster. Weaponry deliveries should also speed up. This is exactly what we talked about - how to speed it all up," said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Dmytro Kuleba added that this NATO minister meeting was possibly the first one where energy security issues were as important as issues directly related to defence.

"When we have transformers and generators, we can restore our system, our energy grid, and provide people with decent living conditions. The comprehensive package of assistance, which NATO deals with and coordinates with the Secretary General, plays a very important role for Ukraine to get through the winter. We need air defense - IRIS-T, Hawk, Patriot, and transformers as soon as possible," he argued.

Kuleba underlined that with new equipment Ukraine will be able to restore normal living conditions for the civilian population and protect the infrastructure from the next Russian missile strikes. "They will definitely be. Unfortunately, this is a reality that we need to be prepared for," he added.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, noted that the main signal at the meeting was that the Allies would continue to support Ukraine. "We will stand by Ukraine as long as it takes, we will not back down. We realise that it is extremely important that President Putin is not able to win in Ukraine. That will be a tragedy for Ukraine, but it will also make the world more dangerous and much more vulnerable," remarked the Secretary General.

Jens Stoltenberg also condemned deliberate Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, saying that Putin is using winter conditions as a weapon.

As reported, NATO issued a joint statement following the meeting in Bucharest, promising to strengthen support for Ukraine and help it defend against missile attacks.