Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba (Photo: Tass).
“Those who support this plan should ask other countries to make similar concessions. If they do, I am ready to listen to their arguments,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told reporters on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels on November 30.
The idea that Ukraine could cede Russian-controlled territories in exchange for NATO membership has been floated by former senior NATO officials, including former Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and former Supreme Allied Commander Europe James Stavridis. Foreign Minister Kuleba opposed the proposal before the NATO-Ukraine Foreign Ministers Council.
Foreign Minister Kuleba also rejected the notion that the West was "tired" of the conflict in Ukraine, stressing that the lack of arms supplies had nothing to do with this sentiment.
Last week, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported that US and German officials want Kiev to compromise and hold peace talks with Moscow. As Ukraine’s largest aid providers, the two countries are limiting new arms supplies to the minimum necessary to avoid a complete collapse of the Ukrainian military, Bild said.
Discussing arms supplies at NATO headquarters, Foreign Minister Kuleba said he had "no reason" to believe the West's failure to provide as many weapons as Kiev expected was due to "a lack of political will".
“But I have good reason to believe that a lot (of technical work) needs to be done to achieve the goal in this area,” Mr. Kuleba added.
Foreign Minister Kuleba noted that of the 1 million artillery shells that the EU pledged to send to Ukraine by 2023, only about 300,000 have arrived in Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials said Kiev remained steadfast in its conflicting goals, insisting that “nothing can stop us.” Mr Kuleba called providing aid to Ukraine rather than sending troops to counter Russia a “fair deal” for the West.
"You give us everything we need, we will fight. We do not ask you to sacrifice your lives," Mr. Kuleba stressed.
Moscow has called the Ukraine conflict a US-led proxy war against Russia.
At a press conference on November 29, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg affirmed that NATO countries did not pressure Ukraine to sit at the negotiating table with Russia as rumored.
NATO leaders stressed the view that military aid to Ukraine is "the path to peace" and the stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger its position at the negotiating table.
Mr. Stoltenberg also said that NATO did not see any signs that Moscow had goodwill to find a peaceful solution to the current conflict in Ukraine.
The West needs to show Russia that it cannot win on the battlefield, which means allies and partners need to continue to provide more military aid to Ukraine, the NATO leader said.
On the Russian side, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said there was no prospect of a ceasefire in Ukraine in 2024, despite reports that the US could push Kiev to sit at the negotiating table with Moscow.
This is because Kiev and the West have taken a completely unacceptable stance towards Moscow, Mr. Ryabkov explained.
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