“Ukraine’s upcoming counteroffensive should not be considered final battle” – foreign minister

Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba warns against viewing the upcoming counteroffensive, which everyone expects, as the last in this war.

Germany can do even more to help Ukraine both with weapons and with regard to NATO membership, he says to Bild.

Don't consider this counteroffensive the last, because we don't know what will come of it. If we succeed in liberating our territories with this counteroffensive, in the end you will say that it was the last, and if not, then we must prepare for the next counteroffensive, the diplomat noted.

He emphasized the great role of Germany in sending essential weapons to Ukraine because tactically, according to him, everything depends on weapons, which the state needs as much as possible.

Germany has a lot of weapons and a lot depends on the state. You have a very developed arms industry with Rheinmetall as a kind of titan of the arms industry in Europe and perhaps in the world. We need artillery ammunition, especially for long-range targets. We need armored vehicles, anti-aircraft systems. Germany has all this, and it can do even more, Kuleba said.

He joked that Germany is lucky that the F-16 is not a Leopard tank, so the decision on the transfer of these fighters depends not on Germany but on the USA. Berlin, however, could use its high-level diplomacy to help Washington make the appropriate decision.

Ukraine, the minister added, is grateful for MiGs, but this type of aircraft will not gain air dominance. There are different types of fighter jets, but by all accounts, the F-16 is the best.

Therefore, let's focus on the F-16, he added.

He is not inclined to underestimate Russia's war potential, but he is not going to exaggerate it either because the last 14 months of the war have shown that Ukrainians can win.

The world and Europe should be interested not only to help Ukraine win this war but also to replenish their own reserves. To do this, it is important that industry and governments work "like a Swiss watch" in the production of new weapons.

If this does not happen, then we will have problems not because of a lack of soldiers, but of weapons. So this is a priority. Germany and other countries must produce more ammunition and weapons, the German government and other governments, Kuleba said.

If Germany wants a safe and prosperous Europe, Ukraine should be a member of NATO, the minister added.

He does not see the prospects of negotiations with Russia. Ukraine already had experience through the mediation of Germany and France from 2014 to 2022. The state was advised to make concessions here and there, but it did not work, Kuleba recalled.

If Putin wanted real peace now, he would not have started this war, the diplomat noted.

The interview with the minister was conducted on the train by Bild correspondent Paul Ronzheimer, who has been constantly reporting from Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war.