Kuleba criticizes slow progress in imposing sanctions against Russian missile, drone manufacturers
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has said that if progress in imposing sanctions against Russian missile and drone manufacturers remains as slow, then "the frankness of this public conversation will have to be taken to an even higher level" with specific countries.
At a joint briefing with Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna in Kyiv, Kuleba said that one of the topics of the talks was sanctions against Russian defense enterprises involved in the manufacture of missiles and drones.
"We worked at all sites, called, and handed over lists of 36 Russian military-industrial companies. It was in November. From the list that we asked for, frankly, only a small part of the companies fell under the sanctions. What do we see? Continuous missile attacks and drone attacks," the minister said.
He added that if it goes on like this, then "the frankness of this public conversation will have to be taken to an even higher level with specific countries and explanations of why someone does not want to apply these sanctions."
"And then let our colleagues publicly explain to their citizens and Ukrainians why there is a problem with applying sanctions against a Russian plant that produces missiles that kill Ukrainians," Kuleba said.
He stressed that the Russian industry of missile terror must be stopped, adding that this would save the lives of Ukrainians, as well as the money of Ukrainian partners who help with the supply of missiles and air defense systems.
"I don't understand the progress is so slow after seven months. Who loses what? It will be interesting to hear what business or political interests are threatened by the imposition of sanctions against defense enterprises producing missiles and drones," the minister said.
Kuleba also said that he asked his Estonian colleague to raise this issue at the EU level.
As reported, on December 7, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced that he had sent a letter to EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell proposing tough sanctions against Russian missile production.
