He noted that we are talking specifically about limiting the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and not all defense forces, and this is a proposal from the Ukrainian military.
According to the president, Ukraine does not have enough financial resources to maintain such an army.
“That’s why I’m holding this dialogue with the leaders, because I consider the partial financing of our army at the expense of partners as a guarantee of security for us. Because the Armed Forces of Ukraine are, first of all, the first guarantee of security. And we need some years, some time, a period of time to level out the post-war economy and reach the possibility of independently financing our army. In the meantime, we need the help of our partners,” he said.
Context
On November 25, the media, citing sources, wrote that in the edited proposal of the “peace plan,” the United States removed the words about “limitations” on the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the level of 600 thousand personnel, which were in the preliminary document of 28 points. The updated US plan says the size of the Ukrainian army will “remain” at a certain level.
On the same day, the Financial Times, citing Ukrainian officials close to Zelensky, wrote that Ukraine agreed to limit the number of Ukrainian Armed Forces to 800 thousand military personnel.
