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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba[/B] (file photo, above, Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein) once again called it a strategic mistake by Germany and France to oppose Ukraine's admission to NATO in 2008.
"If we had been a member of NATO"
Today the country is paying for this mistake, he argued. "If we had been a member of NATO, this war would not have happened,"[/B] Kuleba opined during an interview on the US NBC television network NBC's "Meet the Press."
Furthermore, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy criticized Germany for not supporting Ukraine as much as the government in Kiev would like because it still distinguishes between defensive and offensive weapons.
"If we didn't waste so much time discussing defensive (weapons) versus offensive, what Ukraine needs and doesn't need, we would be in a different position now, a much stronger position," he insisted.
Kuleba also argued that his country is proposing a "fair deal" to NATO and the West.
They need weapons
"You supply us with what we need. And we are fighting on your behalf so that you will not have to get involved in the conflict if (Russian President Vladimir) Putin decides to test Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty by attacking a NATO member state," he said.
He also assured that Ukrainians know "how to fight" and what they need are weapons. Referring to the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kiev region and the expected large-scale Russian operation in the eastern part of the country, he said "Ukraine won the battle of Kiev. Now another battle is coming, the battle for Donbass."
Source: APE-MPE
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