Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in an interview published in today’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper asks the German government to speed up ammunition deliveries and start training Ukrainian Air Force pilots on Western-type fighter jets.

According to Mr. Kuleba, shortages of ammunition, especially artillery, are the “number one” problem in the effort of the Ukrainian armed forces to push back Russian troops, who invaded Ukrainian territory more than a year ago, on February 24, 2022.

In his interview with Sunday’s edition of Bild, he points out that German arms manufacturers assured him at the Munich Security Conference last month that they are ready to make deliveries, but are waiting for the government to sign contracts.

“The problem therefore lies with the government”, judges the head of the Ukrainian diplomacy.

Mr. Kuleba says that he does not expect Western aircraft to be given to his country immediately, as Kiev has been asking for a long time. But, he adds, the training of Ukrainian pilots must begin as soon as possible so that they are ready as soon as a decision is made.

If Germany trains Ukrainian pilots it will send a “clear message of its political commitment”, he adds.

In addition, Dmytro Kuleba assures that the Ukrainian army will continue to defend Bakhmut, a city that has become the focus of the fighting in Donbas in the last six months. “If we withdrew from Bahamut, what would change? Russia would capture it and then continue the attack against Chasiv Yar, and every city after Bahmut would have the same fate.’

Asked how much longer the Ukrainian forces will be able to hold the city, he avoids giving a specific answer.