NATO, don’t let Putin turn Ukraine into Syria, Foreign Minister implores

Ahead of the NATO meeting of Foreign Ministers where Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced NATO would not be enforcing a no-fly zone in Ukraine, despite Ukraine's multiple requests for it, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba released an appeal imploring NATO to act before it's too late, not letting Putin turn Ukraine into Syria. "We are ready to fight, and we will continue fighting, but help us. If you don't I'm afraid you will have to share responsibility for the lives and suffering of Ukrainian civilians who die because of ruthless Russian pilots throwing bombs on them," Kuleba said. Since the start of Russia's full-blown war in Ukraine on 24 February, the Russian Army has repeatedly shelled civilian objects, destroying infrastructure and killing peaceful citizens. Many regions are on the brink of a humanitarian disaster. Here is Kuleba's speech in full.

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

Thank you for everything you have done, but this is war. And in a war everything needs to be done until the moment we prevail. We, together, for the sake of security in Europe, for the sake of prosperity in Europe. Russia tries to turn Ukraine into Syria, and the tactics they deploy are very similar to the ones they excelled in Syria. But we should not allow them to create Syria in Europe. We are ready to fight, and we will continue fighting, but help us. If you don't I'm afraid you will have to share responsibility for the lives and suffering of Ukrainian civilians who die because of ruthless Russian pilots throwing bombs on them. In the last eight days, I received messages from many of you, foreign ministers, saying:

"Dmytro, my government decided to provide you with weapons -- antitank, bullets, ammunition, gun machines, grenades. I hope it's not too late." 

I'm certain that this war develops in a way that when the moment comes, you will be willing to provide us with anything, literally anything that we need to stop Putin from hitting you, and turning Europe into a nightmare. And my hope, my only hope, is that it will not be too late. Thank you.

Related:

• No-fly zones and other ways the international community can help Ukraine