Statement by Kuleba, Truss: 'We must ignore the defeatist voices who propose to sell out Ukraine'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss have said that Vladimir Putin's path to the negotiating table runs through the battlefield.

They said this in a joint op-ed published on the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Ukrinform reports.

"To get peace and protect our way of life, Ukraine and the free world need to stay strong and united. We must ignore the defeatist voices who insist people are beginning to tire and who propose to sell out Ukraine for a quick end to the unrelenting horror," the statement said.

Kuleba and Truss stressed that the Ukrainian people do not have the luxury to feel fatigued nor can the rest of the free world. "The evidence of heinous war crimes continues to mount, from the bombardment of innocent Ukrainian civilians to rape, torture and abduction. Russian forces are weaponizing global hunger by stopping Ukrainian grain exports and stealing harvests. Russian proxies have breached the Geneva Convention in the way they treat prisoners of war, including British citizens serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces," the statement said.

"It is therefore imperative that the G7 and NATO this week demonstrate that their commitment to Ukraine will never be surpassed by Putin’s determination to seize it. That means increasing and speeding up their supply of heavy weapons, continuing to sanction all those colluding in Putin’s war, and cutting off imports of Russian energy completely," the foreign ministers said.

In their opinion, every weapon delivered will help the people of Ukraine repel Russian forces, retake cities currently under fire like Sievierodonetsk and those controlled by Russia like Kherson. Every sanction will help starve Putin’s war machine of funding and save more innocent civilians from further barbarism. That is why the UK is at the vanguard in supplying heavy weapons, the statement said.

"The people of Ukraine will forever remember what the UK did in its darkest hour," the statement said.

Kuleba and Truss said that it was necessary to be cowed by Putin trying to gas-light the world with lurid threats. "Whenever NATO has stood up to his bullying, he has been forced to back down, not double down. His aggression is only succeeding in encouraging more nations to join the world’s most successful defensive alliance," the statement said.

"There will come a time for peace. But it needs to be a good and lasting peace. Putin’s path to the negotiating table runs through the battlegrounds of Ukraine. He will only be serious about negotiations once the Ukrainian people have pushed his troops back," Kuleba and Truss said.

They said that Ukraine’s supporters need to all play their part in ensuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky can negotiate from a position of strength by facing a weakened Putin. "There can be no negotiated settlement which replicates the Minsk Agreement, which came at the expense of Ukraine’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," they said.

In their opinion, those who propose sacrificing Ukraine’s land are actually proposing paying in Ukrainian blood for the illusion of peace, as any agreements will be a mirage unless accompanied by the restitution of Ukrainian territory and the containment of Putin’s imperialism.

"Putin has made clear he will not stop at Ukraine in his ambitions, but go further by targeting other sovereign nations – especially those he believes perniciously are part of Russia. That is why no one can feel secure until Russia retreats from Ukraine and is never able to perpetrate such aggression again," the statement said.

Photo: EASTNEWS