Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has once again said that it was a strategic mistake by Germany and France to oppose Ukraine's accession to NATO in 2008.
Now, his country is paying for this mistake. "If we were a member of NATO, this war wouldn't take place," he told US broadcaster NBC in its "Meet The Press" show.
Kuleba also accused Germany of failing to support his country because it still thinks in terms of defensive and offensive weapons when it comes to military equipment.
"If we didn't waste a lot of time on discussing the issue of defensive against offensive and what Ukraine needs, and what Ukraine doesn't, then we would have been in a different position now, in a much stronger position," he said.
The Ukrainian diplomat stressed that his country was proposing a "fair deal" to NATO and the West.
"You provide us with everything that we need. And we fight so that you don't have to step up into the fight when Putin decides to test article five of the North Atlantic Treaty and attack of one of NATO countries," Kuleba said.
He was referring to the article that states that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all of its members. Since Ukraine is not a member of NATO, it cannot request assistance under this article.
Kuleba stressed Ukrainians know "how to fight," but they need weapons of all kinds to fight the Russian troops.
Referring to the withdrawal of Russian troops from the surroundings of the capital Kiev and the expected large-scale Russian offensive in the east of the country, he said: "Ukraine won the battle for Kiev. Now another battle is coming, the battle for Donbass."
