Ukraine in talks with Germany to unblock arms purchases from NATO - Kuleba

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told this to reporters on Tuesday, December 14, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

He recalled that Ukraine had previously gained access to NATO's defense procurement system, which means the Ukrainian Defense Ministry can buy weapons or military equipment directly from the Allies.

"We do have some discussions with some Allies about how the whole system will work, but I am convinced that we need to talk about this with them now at the bilateral level as diplomats," he said.

According to Kuleba, this is not an unsolvable task.

"We can solve it in the negotiations and yesterday we discussed this issue with Ms. Annalena Baerbock and agreed that diplomatic negotiations will be enough to find a solution to any situation," the minister said.

Kuleba also added that his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, has a clear understanding of the threat from Russia and the risks of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to Kuleba, Baerbock also noted that the application of not only the letter but also the spirit of the EU's third energy package to Nord Stream 2 is an absolutely unconditional requirement for this political project.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on December 13 that last month, Berlin through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency vetoed Ukraine's purchase of weapons systems to counter Russian aggression.

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