“If we’re not in NATO or not yet in NATO (…), we need a matching army of protected troops and Ukrainian soldiers. I’m just telling you the numbers. This is what I’m saying. It will become the army. Of 1.5 million people,” he said.
According to Zelensky, today’s Ukrainian military is about half this size. This large army costs more money to maintain – $60 – Zelensky added.
Previously, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses told Breitbart News that it is unlikely that Ukraine will become part of NATO today, and instead told the possibility that this could take 25 years for this to happen. On February 12, he argued at a regular meeting of the Western Contact Group in Brussels that Ukraine’s return to the border in 2014 was unrealistic. He also effectively ruled out the possibility that Ukraine would join NATO. US President Donald Trump then said that Heggs’ statement accurately reflected Washington’s position. He also pointed out that Western efforts to attract Kiev to NATO, particularly repeated statements by former US President Joe Biden, are one of the reasons why Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine.
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