Ukrainian FM on agenda for NATO meeting: 'Weapons, weapons, weapons'
The more and the faster Ukraine received weapons, the more lives would be saved and the fewer cities would be destroyed, he said
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated calls for heavier weaponry to aid its defence against Russia at the start of talks with his counterparts from NATO countries on Thursday.
Kuleba described his agenda ahead of the meeting in Brussels: "It's weapons, weapons, weapons."
The best way to help Ukraine is to provide the country with everything it needs to put Russian President Vladimir Putin in his place and defeat the Russian army, he added.
Kuleba said that Germany could do more in terms of arms deliveries "given its reserves and capacities" and that decision-making was taking too long.
"While Berlin has time, Kiev has none," he said.
The more and the faster Ukraine received weapons, the more lives would be saved and the fewer cities would be destroyed, he said.
Regarding further sanctions on Moscow, EU's foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell hopes that the bloc will also restrict the import of oil from Russia as soon as possible.
An oil embargo is not part of the sanctions package currently being discussed by EU member states, he said on Thursday on the sidelines of the meeting.
However, that would be a topic at the meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.
Embargo on energy
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi called for a willingness to compromise on the question of a possible embargo on Russian gas.
"We are asking ourselves whether the price of gas may be traded for peace," he said late Wednesday. "Given those two things, which do we prefer - peace or staying relaxed, with the heaters on or now with the air conditioning running all summer?"
"How would you answer that? Do you prefer peace or running air conditioning? That is the question we have to ask," he replied to a journalist's question.
A fifth package of sanctions on Moscow was proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday. Among other things, it proposes a ban on coal imports from Russia.
Borrell said he hoped the package would be approved by the EU ambassadors on Thursday.
Kuleba described the planned package as a "step forward." Just a week ago, the proposals were much weaker, he said. "We were very unhappy about it."
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has to leave the NATO meeting in Brussels early because of the Bundestag vote on a Covid-19 vaccination requirement. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked her to participate in the vote, government sources said on Thursday morning.