Ukraine’s FM calls on partners not to be guided by fear of escalation in support decisions

During the previous two years, the fear of escalation on the part of Russia was a key factor that constantly stood in the way of obtaining the necessary weapons and making important political decisions in support of Ukraine.

Rubryka writes that this was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, on July 2 during an online speech at a panel discussion of The Economist media outlet "Overcoming conflicts: in search of opportunities" in Athens, Greece.

"Over these two and a half years, nothing has harmed our common cause more than the fear of escalation. We heard it every time we called for a new type of weapon that Ukraine desperately needed to protect its people and critical infrastructure. We heard it every time we had to make an important decision: from granting EU candidate status to Ukraine to other major political steps," the minister noted.

The head of the foreign ministry emphasized that, in the end, all decisions were made, and none of them led to escalation on the Russian side. He reminded that, firstly, Russia constantly escalates the situation regardless of any decisions, and secondly, "its escalation pockets are already empty."

"My request today is to believe in Ukraine's ability to win and finally abandon the fear of escalation. It is Putin who should be afraid of us. It is he who should try to read our minds. It is he who should be looking for ways to end his aggression. Not the other way around," the minister emphasized.

In this context, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine named three decisions, which will help Ukraine and its allies fundamentally improve the situation on the battlefield.

"Firstly, providing Ukraine with more Patriots and other air defense systems and relevant missiles to throw Russia out of the Ukrainian sky. Secondly, giving Ukraine the ability to destroy Russian air terror tools, its bombers, before they even get close to Ukraine's borders – at airfields in Russia and in its skies. And thirdly, a sufficient and stable supply of artillery ammunition to give Ukrainian ground forces an advantage," the Minister noted.