The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, on Saturday called on EU countries to speed up the delivery of weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces and supply large-scale artillery ammunition to respond to Russian fire.
“Ukrainians have specific needs. The Russians are bombing them from afar, so they must be able to react from the same distance,” said after a meeting with the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, in Stockholm.
The British government announced a delivery of Storm Shadow cruise missiles on Thursday.
Moscow considered this decision “extremely dangerous”, as these weapons can reach a distance of 500 kilometers.
“The main topics of my conversation with EU foreign ministers today are long-range artillery ammunition and short-term membership proposals,” said the Ukrainian minister, invited to join the meeting of his European counterparts and countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Instead of asking when the counter-offensive will begin, everyone should ask themselves whether they have done enough to launch and successfully crown the Ukrainian counter-offensive.” stated, before meeting Josep Borrell.
“Dmytro Kouleba explained to us the situation on the ground. In the Bakhmut region (the latter, the epicenter of fighting with Russian troops, where Ukraine claims advance), Ukraine needs about a thousand artillery shells per day (…) this gives an idea of the intensity of the fighting,” said the head of European diplomacy.
“We are supplying arms and ammunition, but we need to speed up delivery and rebuild our stocks,” he insisted, welcoming the €2.7 billion military aid to Kiev agreed by Germany.
“If we don’t deliver, Ukraine will not be able to defend itself,” he stressed.
The fact that Ukraine has not regained sovereignty over the entire territory is not a reason to postpone it, he said.
“Cyprus was accepted as a member without having fully reconquered the territory and the question remains open,” he recalled. The island is divided into two parts and the north remains under Turkish rule.
Source: DN
