Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Sibiga, said the full-scale war with Russia has reached a “pivotal moment” and that pressure on Moscow is growing. He spoke at a meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Sweden on May 21.

Ukraine holds the line, and Russia’s manpower is no longer a decisive advantage. To achieve peace, we must focus on three critical elements: diplomacy, pressure, and strength. We need a new push in our peace efforts, while ramping up our special long-range sanctions and other leverage.

Sibiga told NATO member-state representatives about “growing threats from Belarus” and called for preventing “the expansion of Moscow’s and Minsk’s aggression.”

He also urged NATO countries to increase defense spending, calling it a guarantee of peace, and proposed that each country contribute to Ukraine’s defense. He said these investments would yield “the greatest peace dividend” of their lifetime.

Ukraine’s foreign minister made the statement as negotiations with Russia over ending the war have stalled. The last round of talks was held in February in Geneva, mediated by the United States, shortly before the start of the war in the Middle East.

At the same time, according to Politico, Moscow and Kyiv are ready for negotiations, but the U.S. is “bogged down” in the war with Iran, while Europe cannot find a special envoy for peace talks.

The Pentagon believes that U.S.-mediated negotiations have so far failed to produce a ceasefire because Kyiv does not want to cede territory to Russia, and Moscow refuses to agree on postwar security guarantees for Ukraine.