Criticism of the results of the Ukrainian counteroffensive or the military strategy of its army received a harsh reply yesterday from its Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, who met with his European counterparts in Toledo to assess the situation and Kyiv's needs to continue fighting Russia. "Criticizing the slow pace of the counteroffensive is like spitting in the face of the Ukrainian soldiers who are sacrificing their lives, advancing and liberating kilometer after kilometer of Ukrainian territory," Kuleba replied to questions from the press.
“I would recommend everyone to shut up and go to Ukraine to try to liberate a square centimeter of territory by themselves,” he added, visibly annoyed. Kuleba's reaction comes a few days after criticism from senior Biden Administration officials and Pentagon officials of the Ukrainian military strategy came to light, while from the European Union, throughout the summer, various voices have warned of the risk of fatigue among European public opinion about the consequences of the war in the rest of the continent.
Kuleba's main goal in Toledo, where he met Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares and had lunch with his European counterparts, was to secure more military support for his country and broaden the coalition of countries willing to send them F-type aircraft. 16.
"When we win the war, I will go out publicly and say that we don't need more weapons," said the Ukrainian politician. But "as long as we keep fighting we will need more, not because we are greedy but to restore peace in Europe." He asked Spain for the same thing as all the other countries, he explained: "more tanks, more armored vehicles and more air defense systems," said Kuleba, who thanked Albares for being one of the first countries to send them missile launchers when the war began. invasion.
The ministers of the EU countries closest to Ukraine expressed their full support for the Kyiv government and called for patience, without hiding their fear that European support for Kyiv will decline in the coming months. “We see progress, the Ukrainians are fighting bravely and in the last few days there has been progress, but it takes time. This is not a war movie, which is a couple of hours long, and we are waiting for it to end because we want to see another one. This is a real war and we must support the Ukrainians,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.
“We should stop complaining about the lack of progress on the battlefield and focus on what is needed. If they say they need long-range missiles, we have to give them to them, if they ask for more armed vehicles, we must give them to them," claimed the head of Lithuanian diplomacy, Gabrielius Landsbergis.
“We have to stop saying that we will be with Ukraine for as long as it takes and say that we will be with Ukraine until victory” and give him the means to achieve it. "Because if we are not able to say this, it means that we have other options in mind and the only other option there is a victory for Vladimir Putin and I don't think there is anyone in the room who wants to see Putin win" because it would be "a disaster” for Europe, Landsbergis added.
The European ministers also addressed the situation in Africa after the recent coups in Niger and, this week, in Gabon. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, rejected the use of force but marked differences in the situation of these countries: the military coup in Gabon occurred after elections whose "democratic validity" generated "many doubts" in the community international .
“There are military coups and there are institutional coups, in which it is not necessary to use weapons. But if I manipulate elections to seize power, that is also an irregular way of exercising power," Borrell slipped, who immediately clarified that "nothing" justifies what happened.
