At the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Foreign Minister Baerbock condemned the war as a breach of civilization. When Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba asked for Patriot missiles to protect against missiles and the cold, she was reluctant. US pledges millions to Kyiv for generators
Ukraine has demanded Patriot air defense systems from NATO, like those that Germany has. Patriots need Ukraine “one of the most urgently,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Bucharest, without explicitly naming Germany. At the appearance with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Kuleba said the air defense system should ward off further Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Poland had previously called on the federal government to make the Patriot system available to Ukraine for this purpose. Berlin originally offered this to Warsaw after the recent rocket hits in the border area.
In Bucharest, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she was reluctant to hand over the Patriots to Kyiv. Baerbock emphasized that NATO must ensure that it has sufficient material “in its own alliance area”. The Greens politician also referred to the IRIS-T air defense system, which Berlin has already delivered to Kyiv. Kuleba wants to attend a dinner with the NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest. Most recently, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said he had demanded three things from Western partners: “Weapons, weapons, weapons.” Now his demand is: “Faster, faster, faster”.
Previously, Baerbock had described the Russian war of aggression against the neighboring country as a “break in civilization”. The Green politician used a term that is often used to describe the Holocaust. This in turn is the term used almost worldwide for the genocide of Europe’s Jewish population by the National Socialists with around six million dead. Baerbock said specifically: “We are witnessing in a brutal way that the Russian President is now using cold as a weapon of war – a brutal break not only with international law, but with our civilization.” The bombing of infrastructure means that families with young children have to live in sub-zero temperatures without electricity, water and heat.
On the fringes of the NATO meeting, the United States pledged further aid for Ukraine in the amount of 53 million dollars, the equivalent of a good 51 million euros. The United States wanted to “provide important equipment for the power grid,” said Foreign Minister Antony Blinken in the Romanian capital. The Ukrainian energy infrastructure has been massively disrupted by several waves of Russian attacks. The US package includes, but is not limited to, transformers, circuit breakers, vehicles and other equipment. Washington wants to deliver them to Ukraine as emergency aid. The US had previously promised $55 million for generators, among other things.
Blinken made the renewed commitment at a meeting of the seven major industrialized countries (G7) with up to 20 partner countries on the sidelines of the NATO conference. Baerbock had organized the G7 debate. Germany also plans to announce additional funds in Bucharest to buy more generators, fuel and ambulances and to support demining projects.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also met in Bucharest for a tripartite meeting with the foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden. Cavusoglu tweeted that he once again made clear “Ankara’s expectations” of the two northern NATO accession candidates. Ankara accuses both states of providing shelter to Kurdish fighters who the Turkish government sees as “terrorists”. Of the 30 NATO countries, only Turkey and Hungary have not yet ratified Sweden’s and Finland’s accession protocols.
