Those who don’t support Ukraine now set to pay cost in future - Kuleba

The way a particular country acted or treated Ukraine at the darkest moment in its history was noted and will be taken into account when building future relations.

This was stated by Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, who spoke in an interview with BBC News Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

Kuleba made it clear that countries that did not support Ukraine now, those which "acted poorly during this war and treated Ukraine badly" will pay the price in the future.

"If anyone in the world thinks that the way this or that country acted or treated Ukraine at the darkest moment in its history will not be taken into account when building future relations, these people simply don’t know how diplomacy works," he said.

"War is a time when you have to make a choice. And every such choice has been noted," Kuleba emphasized.

In addition, the minister noted that the Western allies fail to provide military support to Ukraine quickly enough as none of them was prepared for a conflict of such a scale as World War 1. Still, Ukraine critically needs more artillery rounds.

"We want partners to act faster," the minister said. "If one delivery is delayed by just one day, it means someone will die on the front lines. It means someone who could have live will die."

The greatest demand for ammunition was in the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Ukrainian forces have held for more than seven months despite repeated Russian attempts to capture the fiercely contested town in Donetsk region.

Kuleba said that it is "emotionally very difficult" because of the losses that Ukraine is sustaining. But had Bakhmut fallen, other cities would have been next: "So, to save lives there... we have to fight in Bakhmut for as long as we physically can."

As Ukrinform reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky said defeating Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine means not fighting anywhere else in Europe and along the Russian borders.