Kiev, Jun 20 (IANS): Ukraine will continue fighting against Russia even if it has no weapons whatsoever, so the West should speed up its shipments of arms or be responsible for the deaths of its troops, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said.

"If we don't get weapons, fine. Then we will fight with shovels. But we will keep defending ourselves because this is a war for our existence," Kuleba was quoted as saying in an interview with German public broadcaster ARD.

"The sooner we get the weapons, the sooner they are sent, the more good they will do us. If they come late, we will still thank you, but then there will be a lot of waste, and many people will have died by then," he added.

He made the remarks during a panel discussion, RT reported.

The list of guests on the show also included the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and several German politicians and political experts.

Kuleba said that Russian artillery outgunned Ukraine's in Donbas 15 to 1, echoing statements that several senior Ukrainian officials have made lately.

Kiev cannot win with such an imbalance of power, the foreign minister added.

Western politicians, who believe Kiev should make concessions to Russia and agree to settle the conflict with a peace agreement due to the dire situation on the battlefield, are wrong, Kuleba claimed.

Ukraine was left with some of the largest military stockpiles among former Soviet republics when the USSR dissolved.

Now it says it's lost up to half of its heavy weapons fighting against Russia and allied forces in the east.