Ukraine, even before the start of a full-scale Russian invasion, was actively negotiating with partners to provide weapons. However, Western countries were reluctant to agree, in connection with which “time was lost.”
Negotiations between Ukraine and partners on military assistance were conducted for several months until February 24 and the first weeks after the start of a full-scale war. However, Ukraine did not receive the desired assistance.
This was stated by Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba in a comment to Politico .
“I asked him that perhaps the time has finally come to give Ukraine a Patriot air defense system. He said: “Dmitry, in principle, this can happen. But it will take at least two or three months to teach your people how to use them,” Kuleba recalled a conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in late February.
Kuleba noted that none of the parties could have imagined that the war would drag on, but, in his opinion, the course of the confrontation could have been different if Ukraine had the necessary weapons.
“But if we had heard about weapons from the very beginning, if we had not had to explain to our partners for hours and days why we needed this particular weapon and not another, we would have already received it and taught everyone, and the situation would have been completely different, it would have been “much better. We all wasted time and let Putin get what he shouldn’t have,” Kuleba said.
Kuleba also noted that it was at the summit in Germany that the United States persuaded the European allies to “transfer Ukraine from Soviet weapons to NATO weapons.”
Recall, Arestovich explained why Ukraine needs faster and more weapons .
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