Ukraine pleads for weapons as fight looms on eastern front

KYIV

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Thursday he expected NATO members to send Kyiv the weapons it needs but insisted they had to act quickly as Russia readies another major offensive.

"Either you help us now – and I'm speaking about days, not weeks, or your help will come too late, and many people will die, many civilians will lose their homes, many villages will be destroyed. Exactly because this help came too late," Kuleba said after meeting NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

"I have no doubts that Ukraine will have weapons necessary to fight. The question is the timeline. This discussion is not about the list of weapons. The discussion is about the timeline," he told journalists.

Ukraine is pushing the West to increase its arms supplies with heavier weaponry including air defence systems, artillery, armoured vehicles and jets, as Moscow refocuses its offensive on the east of the country.

"The battle for Donbas (in eastern Ukraine) will remind you of the Second World War with large operations manoeuvres, the involvement of thousands of tanks, armoured vehicles, planes, artillery," Mr. Kuleba said.

"Russia has its plan, we have ours -- and the outcome of this battle will be decided on the battlefield."

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said "it was a clear message from the meeting today that allies should do more and are ready to do more to provide more equipment".