London, Thanasis Gavos

An answer that has caused a sensation was given by UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to a journalist’s question in Vilnius about whether the lack of agreement on a timetable for Ukraine’s accession to NATO will hurt the morale of Ukrainian soldiers.

“Whether we like it or not, some gratitude has to be shown,” Mr. Wallace initially said. “My advice to the Ukrainians sometimes is, look, convince countries to give you some of their own weaponry. And yes, the war is a noble war and yes, we see it as you waging a war not only for yourselves, but also for our freedoms. But sometimes Congressmen on Capitol Hill in America have to be convinced. Doubtful politicians in other countries must be convinced that (the cause) is worthwhile, that it is something worth doing and that they are getting something for it. That’s just the reality.”he added.

Then he said how there is sometimes grumbling from American MPs that the US “they’ve given $83 billion or so and you know, we’re not Amazon.”

He even added that he himself used this expression when he visited Kiev last year in June and received a list of weapons that the Ukrainians wanted. “I told the Ukrainians last year when I drove 11 hours to be served a list, I said I’m not Amazon.”

The British Defense Secretary also said that Ukrainian soldiers must receive even better training to limit losses, but he stressed that Ukraine will eventually join NATO and that the Vilnius summit won the acceptance of the country as a member of the Alliance.