As the Russian military operation in Ukraine continues for the second month, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba asserted, on Sunday, that war would not have occurred if France and Germany had agreed to his country’s joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In a tweet, he called on his Twitter account to study the effects of Russian political propaganda, considering that it paved the way for atrocities to be committed in Bucha, the city near Kyiv that Ukrainian forces regained control of on March 31.
He also continued, “I urge researchers all over the world to study the reasons that led to what we witnessed in Bucha.”
These statements came a few days following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the former French President, once more of preventing his country from joining NATO.
Zelensky said in the town of Bucha last Monday that Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy were under the influence of Russia during the decisions of the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, according to the Ukrainian Presidential Office.
And it was discovered that many civilians were killed in this town near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, following the Russian army withdrew from it.
On February 24, Moscow launched a large-scale military operation on the territory of the western neighbor, calling for its disarmament, which it considers a threat to its security. The Kremlin has also repeatedly called for a halt to NATO’s expansion in eastern Europe, and refused to include Ukraine in it.
Those military attacks, which came days following the Kremlin recognized the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, mobilized the entire international community, and led to the imposition of an unprecedented package of sanctions on Moscow.
Since the beginning of the Russian attack, NATO has lavished aid on Kyiv, as well as many weapons, stressing at the same time not to enter into a direct conflict with the Russians, which might lead to the outbreak of a third world war.
However, the Ukrainian authorities are still demanding more advanced and sophisticated weapons, including tanks, aircraft and anti-aircraft guns, in order to repel the Russians. It has recently increased those demands, especially following successive accusations during the past two days of Russian forces committing war crimes in towns around Kyiv and in the north of the country.
