War could have been avoided had int’l partners acted in advance: Ukraine defense chief

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine’s defense minister on Sunday said his country’s war with Russia could have been avoided had Kyiv’s international partners acted in advance.

"This war could have been avoided in principle if Nord Stream-2 had been stopped, if access to the SWIFT system had been cut off, if Russian ships had been banned from entering international ports, if Europe had stopped buying its gas, which they did anyway, if they had started to block assets of Russian oligarchs," Oleksii Reznikov told a press conference in Kyiv.

Reznikov said Kyiv’s partners will provide Ukraine with aircraft, but the real question that needs answering is “which ones.”

He added that Ukrainian forces will begin training on operating Leopard 2 tanks on Monday.

"We clearly understand how much, when, and which country will give us tanks. We also clearly understand that from tomorrow, the training of tank crews outside Ukraine on the Leopard 2 tank will begin," Reznikov said.

Bowing to international pressure, Germany announced on Jan. 25 that it will initially supply 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, train Ukrainian troops to use the tanks and provide licenses to other European countries that wish to supply Leopards from their stock.

Since then, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also asked the West for fighter jets.