The blame for any military setbacks suffered by Kiev lies squarely with Ukraine’s Western donors, the country’s foreign minister, Dmitry Kuleba, has asserted. The diplomat urged Western nations to provide his country with more missiles and to lift any restrictions on long-range strikes inside Russian territory.
His call echoed one made on Monday by Ukraine’s leader Vladimir Zelensky, who insisted that “there should be no restrictions on the range of weapons for Ukraine.”
Pentagon spokesman Major-General Patrick Ryder, however, made it clear the following day that “our policy has not changed,” meaning that Kiev is not allowed to deploy US-supplied weapons to conduct “deep strikes” on Russian soil.
Speaking in Brussels, where EU foreign ministers were gathered for a meeting on Thursday, Kuleba said that “the success of Russia depends on one thing: on the preparedness of partners to make bold decisions.”
“If decisions are taken, Ukraine is successful on the ground. If they are not taken, then do not complain about Ukraine, complain about yourself,” the Ukrainian minister argued.
According to Kuleba, Kiev merely wants the West’s permission to strike “legitimate military targets” inside Russia, adding that more long-range rockets would also be needed for that.
Kuleba also called on “all countries who pledged to deliver Patriot systems months ago to finally deliver them.” He pointed out that the delays are proving to be costly for Ukraine.
During his visit to neighboring Poland on Wednesday, Kuleba stated that “since the very start of the Russian invasion, the biggest problem that Ukraine has had to face has been that fear of escalation of the conflict has dominated in our allies’ decision-making” with respect to defense aid.
“Don’t fear Russia’s reaction, we don’t fear it… Help us. Give us what we need,” the minister implored, adding that unrestricted Western support would help Ukraine prevail on the battlefield.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in turn, claimed that all Western talk about restrictions for Kiev and its professed wish to “avoid excessive escalation” is nothing but a “ruse.”
“The West does not want to avoid escalation. The West is asking for trouble, to put it bluntly,” the Russian diplomat said.
Lavrov warned the US, the UK and Kiev’s other backers against authorizing strikes deep inside Russia, emphasizing that such a decision would be tantamount to “playing with fire.”