Dmitry Kuleba has said he will only join the military if he receives a summons, despite urging Ukrainians to return home to fight with \u201cshovels\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said he will not volunteer for frontline service, stating in an interview with Ukraine\u2019s Channel 5 on Sunday that he will only join the army if drafted.
\nKuleba served as Kiev\u2019s chief diplomat from 2020 to 2024, stepping down during a large-scale purge of senior officials by Vladimir Zelensky.
\nEarlier this year, it was reported that he had fled Ukraine after a travel ban was issued against him and several other former diplomats. Kuleba decried the move, suggesting Zelensky wanted to prevent them from traveling abroad and saying things that \u201cmight be contrary to the government\u2019s line.\u201d
\nIn the Channel 5 interview, however, Kuleba stressed that he remains in Ukraine, currently \u201csits at home,\u201d and has no intention of fleeing if he receives a military summons. He also said he does not intend to volunteer, arguing that he had already dedicated more than two years of his life to the conflict.
\nAlthough Kuleba is of military age, it is unclear if he would actually receive a summons as former ministers and senior officials have reportedly been largely spared from Ukraine\u2019s mobilization effort, which has been marred by draft dodging, corruption, desertion, and forced conscription. Ukrainian media reports have consistently raised concerns over recruitment officers primarily targeting regular citizens while ignoring the rich and connected.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Kiev mayor urging young men to fight while his own sons avoid service \u2013 Moscow<\/p>\n
While in office, Kuleba made repeated calls on Ukrainians abroad to return home to join the armed forced. He also said that if Western military support were to run out, Ukrainians should continue to \u201cfight with shovels.\u201d
\nKuleba also stated that unless Kiev is granted NATO membership, the pursuit of which Moscow has described as one of the root causes of the conflict, Ukraine would continue to wage a \u201crevanchist war\u201d to reclaim its former territories.
\nLast week, however, Kuleba appeared to shift his position, arguing that Kiev needed to accept an agreement \u201cthat no one likes\u201d and lock in a \u201ctactical defeat\u201d to avoid many more years of conflict and a complete collapse.
\nMoscow has said that any lasting settlement is possible only if Ukraine adopts neutrality, demilitarization, denazification, and recognizes the territorial reality on the ground.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dmitry Kuleba has said he will only join the military if he receives a summons, despite urging Ukrainians to return home to fight with \u201cshovels\u201d Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t