Ukraine needs million-strong army to defend itself from Russia, - Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will need an army of about a million people to defend itself against Russia until the country joins a security alliance.
The head of state said this at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Censor.NET reports.
"We need a million soldiers in defence if Putin comes with a million and a half," Zelenskyy said.
The President stressed that the maintenance of such a large contingent would be possible only with the support of the international community. In particular, he stressed the importance of Ukraine's accession to NATO, calling this step "the cheapest security guarantee" for Ukraine, Europe and the world.
According to Zelenskyy, the maintenance of a million-strong army far exceeds the financial capacity of Ukraine's state budget. He suggested using frozen Russian assets worth about $250 billion as a source of funding.
"Now there are 250 billion Russian assets - we take them away, restore the infrastructure with some of them, and maintain the army with some of them until we are in some kind of alliance. Or the army will have to be maintained at the expense of the American or European budgets," he concluded.
