ISTANBUL

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday that the country’s membership in NATO is contingent on the decision of four member states.

"(It depends) on about four member countries of the alliance and one of them is very big and important in NATO," Kuleba said in an interview with Ukraine's 1+1 television channel.

The top diplomat said one of the four countries has already "started to waver" on Ukraine's membership in NATO, a 31-state intergovernmental military alliance – 29 European and two North American – and that the process reminds him of the country's efforts while attempting to receive candidate status for EU membership.

"A week before this decision, the leaders of European countries told us that 'this will never happen.' Now it's the same with NATO,” he said, hoping that “we will solve this problem over time."

Kuleba's comments on NATO membership come as the alliance prepares for its upcoming summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in July.

He said the decision to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine is only a “matter of time” and that the transfer by the US will be related to the outcome of Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia.

"We will get the F-16. It is a matter of time and our job – the job of the president's team – to make this decision as soon as possible. I think that this decision by the United States will be related to the outcome of the counteroffensive," the foreign minister said.

If Ukraine had already had the F-16, the counteroffensive would have been much faster and more civilians and Ukrainian soldiers would have been saved, he claimed.

"But, unfortunately, today I have to state that there is no decision on the F-16, but we are moving towards it," he said, adding that their current priority is to obtain artillery ammunition, armored vehicles, and F-16s.

After securing the delivery of battle tanks in January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the West for fighter jets to defend its skies against Russian attacks, a request officially ruled out for now by countries such as the US and Germany.