Ukraine Presses NATO For Weapons

 

Ukrainian Soldiers

Ukraine is pressing NATO for more weapons amid expectations that Russia is repositioning its forces before launching a major offensive in southeastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on April 7, as well as with ministers from the Group of Seven, who pledged "additional restrictive measures" on Russia and a "readiness to assist further, including with military equipment and financial means, to allow Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s aggression and to rebuild Ukraine."

The G7, which comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, also condemned "in the strongest terms" what it calls the "atrocities" committed by Russia in the town of Bucha and other areas of Ukraine.

"Haunting images of civilian deaths, victims of torture, and apparent executions, as well as reports of sexual violence and destruction of civilian infrastructure, show the true face of Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and its people," foreign ministers from the G7 said in a joint statement on April 7.

"The massacres in the town of Bucha and other Ukrainian towns will be inscribed in the list of atrocities and severe violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights, committed by the aggressor on Ukrainian soil," it added.

Kuleba said he and G7 ministers had discussed how they could take military, economic, and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine to the next level.

"Ukraine proposes a fair deal: the world provides us with all the support we require; we fight and defeat [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in Ukraine," he said on Twitter after the meeting in Brussels.

Kuleba called for the dispatch of more planes, air-defense systems, missiles, and military vehicles from NATO allies.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Brussels that Washington will not let anything stand in the way of sending Ukraine more of the weapons it needs in its fight against Russia.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said NATO was discussing how to increase its help to Ukraine with “different military weapons.”

"We are looking closely with our partners how we can support Ukraine in the future, more intensively and more coordinated, because they have a right of self-defense and we will support this right of self-defense together with different partners," she said at the NATO meeting.