President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine’s Defense Forces should have 1.5 million soldiers to effectively defend against Russia.
He said this during a press conference at the Munich Security Conference.
Zelenskyy clarified that such figures have been agreed with the military, and they are justified by the number of combat brigades of the Russian army.
“I’m just telling you the numbers that we understand with all the military. That is, it will be an army of 1.5 million. One and a half million! They (the Russians) have 220, and we have 110 combat brigades today. So, we need 220,” Zelensky said.
He also noted that Ukraine’s accession to NATO would be a much more cost-effective option for security guarantees. However, if Ukraine remains outside the bloc or is on the way to joining, the army must be able to defend the state on its own.
Zelenskyy estimated Ukraine’s annual security budget at $40 billion a year, and if the army is increased to 1.5 million, the funding for this should be about $60 billion.