2023-08-17 11:25:00
Dmytro Kouleba, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, told AFP of kyiv’s desire to continue the war until total victory.
By GA with AFP Dmytro Kouleba, head of Ukrainian diplomacy, speaks to journalists. © ROMAN PILIPEY / AFP Published on 08/17/2023 at 11:25 am
Their determination is intact, despite the ferocity of the fighting. The counter-offensive led since June by the Kiev army has the “objective” of liberating all of Ukraine, “no matter how long it takes”, declared the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba. “Our goal is victory, victory in the form of the liberation of our territories within the 1991 borders. And no matter how long it takes,” Dmytro Kouleba said in an interview with the Agence France-Presse (AFP), about the grueling counter-offensive of its army aimed at retaking the territories occupied by Moscow.
“As long as the Ukrainian people share this goal, the Ukrainian government will move forward hand in hand with its people”, he added, while admitting that “Ukraine is paying the highest price” for a conflict that ravaged many regions of this country bordering the European Union.
In Ukraine, “we are all tired. I am tired and you are tired. We are all humans. But the stakes are too high to allow fatigue to determine the nature of our decisions,” the minister said. The 1991 borders are those of independent Ukraine at the fall of the USSR, which include Crimea, a peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
A slower-than-expected counter-offensive
Launched in early June, the Ukrainian counter-offensive has made it possible to retake a handful of small towns, but it comes up against Russian troops entrenched behind solid defensive lines, made up in particular of trenches and minefields. According to the leaders in kyiv, it is progressing at a slower pace than expected.
READ ALSOWar in Ukraine: “In the end, there will be negotiations” Asked about possible pressure from its Western allies for kyiv to step up its counter-offensive, the minister replied: “We don’t feel it. »
“There is an increase in the voices of commentators and experts in the public space. It exists, but they will all disappear […] after Ukraine’s first resounding victory in the south or east” of the country, he said.
Dmytro Kouleba, however, said he was “a little irritated” by some comments. “The right approach for those who want it to be fast and bright is to join the (Ukrainian) Foreign Legion and do it fast and bright,” he said.
“We must move forward”
While the West has already sent weapons to Kiev worth tens of billions of euros, Dmytro Kouleba reiterated the need to obtain more until a Ukrainian victory is achieved. “Until we win, we will need more (weapons), we have to move forward, because war is a reality, and in that reality, we have to win. There is no other solution,” he insisted.
READ ALSOWar in Ukraine: at the rear as at the front, resignation and determinationHe also gave “guarantees” not to use on Russian territory weapons supplied by the West. “If our partners ask us to give a guarantee that such and such a weapon will only be used on the territory of Ukraine, we give this guarantee and respect it”, assured the head of Ukrainian diplomacy. “There have been a few occasions where we have made such promises and we keep them,” he added.
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