On Friday, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dymtro Kuleba uploaded a video to social media that had been played before a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers the same day in Brussels. In the video, Kuleba pleads with those in attendance to not allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to “create Syria in Europe.”
After first thanking everyone for the help that has already been provided, Kuleba emphasized that in war, “everything needs to be done until the moment that we prevail,” and that it must be done together for “the sake of security” and “prosperity in Europe.”
Kuleba continued, comparing the tactics Russia used in Syria to those being used in Ukraine, adding that a similar situation shouldn’t be allowed to happen in Europe.
The foreign minister then put forward a sobering message:
We are ready to fight. We will continue fighting, but help us. If you don’t, I’m afraid you will have to share responsibility for the lives and sufferings of civilian Ukrainians who die because of ruthless Russian pilots who throw bombs on them.
Kuleba concluded by noting that he believes a time will come when Europe will provide “anything” to stop Putin from “turning Europe into the nightmare — and my hope, my only hope, is that it will not be too late.”
Took part in the extraordinary meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers. My message: act now before it’s too late. Don’t let Putin turn Ukraine into Syria. We are ready to fight. We will continue fighting. But we need partners to help us with concrete, resolute and swift actions, now. pic.twitter.com/s4FCaAOjNy
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 4, 2022
At the meeting, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that NATO will defend its territory, and that although this invasion doesn’t involve NATO directly, the organization of nations has “a responsibility to ensure it does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine,” which would be “devastating.”
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met virtually with members of Congress, and reportedly asked for a no-fly zone, a supply of aircraft, and for the United States to stop purchasing oil from Russia. While a no-fly zone would amount to direct American conflict with Russia, which has been ruled out by many elected officials, a few lawmakers issued social media messages in support of either supplying aircraft or even ending the purchase of Russian oil.
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Thank you for everything you’ve done. But this is the war, and in the war, everything needs to be done until the moment that we prevail. We, together, for the sake of security in Europe, for the sake of prosperity of Europe.
Russia tries to turn Ukraine into Syria, and the tactics they deploy are very similar to the one they excelled in Syria. But we should not allow them to create Syria in Europe.
We are ready to fight. We will continue fighting, but help us. If you don’t, I’m afraid you will have to share responsibility for the lives and sufferings of civilian Ukrainians who die because of ruthless Russian pilots who throw bombs on them.
In the last eight days, I received messages from many of you saying, “Dmytro, my government decided to provide you with weapons — anti-tank, bullets, ammunition, gun machines, grenades. I hope it’s not too late.”
I’m certain that this war develops in a way where the moment will come. You will be willing to provide us with anything, literally anything that we need to stop Putin from hitting you, and turning Europe into the nightmare — and my hope, my only hope, is that it will not be too late.