On 31 August, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba strongly responded to critics of the slow advancement in Ukraine’s counteroffensive, urging them to refrain from making negative comments, Politico reports.
“Criticizing the slow pace of counteroffensive equals to spitting into the face of Ukrainian soldier who sacrifices his life every day, moving forward and liberating one kilometer of Ukrainian soil after another,” he told reporters during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers that he attended in Spain, adding, “I would recommend all critics to shut up. Come to Ukraine and try to liberate one square centimeter by themselves.”
Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the country’s south kicked off in June. International experts and media often focus on its slow pace, which can be traced partly to delays among Ukraine’s allies in providing all the necessary equipment, such as tanks, missiles, and fighter jets.
“The discussion that we’re having now with the German government is on providing Taurus long-range missiles — France and the United Kingdom already did so,” Kuleba noted, claiming that Germany doesn’t have “a single objective argument” against supplying these missiles.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister believes that German supplies of the Tauruses would “help our counter-defensive, and therefore it will help to end the war sooner.”
Also, Kuleba extended his plea to countries beyond Germany, urging all EU member states operating F-16 fighter jets to collaborate with the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway in the aviation coalition to train the Ukrainian pilots and provide the aircraft.
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