Ukraine appeals for US, other allies to supply rocket launchers, nuclear heads quickly

Ukraine’s foreign minister says the urgency of his country’s weapons needs can be summed up in two abbreviations – MLRS and ASAP, meaning multiple-launch rocket systems and as soon as possible.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Dmytro Kuleba warned the situation in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region was “extremely bad”.

He said he had conducted about 10 bilateral meetings with other officials whose countries possess MLRS. “The response I get is, ‘Have the Americans given it to you already?’” Kuleba said, alluding to US leadership. “So this is the burden of being a leader. Everyone is looking at you. So Washington has to keep the promise and provide us with multiple launch rocket systems as soon as possible. Others will follow.”

“If we do not get an MLRS ASAP, the situation in Donbas will get even worse than it is now,” Kuleba added. “Every day of someone sitting in Washington, Berlin, Paris and other capitals, and considering whether they should or should not do something, costs us lives and territories.”