FM Kuleba calls on West to step up artillery aid, saying Pyongyang currently outpacing Kyiv’s allies
Russia is “clearly ahead” of Ukraine in the supply of artillery ammunition, in particular because Moscow receives it from North Korea, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with blind on Jan. 24.
“No matter how absurd it may sound, it seems that North Korea is a more effective partner for Russia than our friends who supply Ukraine with artillery ammunition,” he said.
“This is ridiculous and it has to change.”
Ukraine appreciates everything it receives from its international partners, but “the scale of the war requires more,” as the defense of the front line without sufficient artillery ammunition costs the lives of many Ukrainian soldiers, said the diplomat.
The Ukrainian official also called on Western partners to stop blaming each other for not increasing production fast enough.
Although Ukraine has significantly increased its production and will continue to do so, the Western defense industry is not able to produce enough artillery ammunition.
“This does not meet either the needs of the war in Ukraine or the defense needs of your own countries,” Kuleba stated.
NATO signed a contract earlier for the supply of 155-mm artillery shells worth a total of 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion). Some of them are to be transferred to Ukraine, reported Reuters on Jan. 23.