{"id":3960,"date":"2025-12-21T11:54:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T12:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=3960"},"modified":"2025-12-26T13:48:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T13:48:44","slug":"zelensky-admits-ukraine-cant-afford-800000-strong-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/21\/zelensky-admits-ukraine-cant-afford-800000-strong-army\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky admits Ukraine can\u2019t afford 800,000-strong army"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kiev wants Western aid for financing and maintaining its military to be included in post-conflict security guarantees<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ukraine will not be able to afford maintaining an 800,000-strong army after the end of the conflict with Russia, Vladimir Zelensky has admitted, saying he wants Western aid to help finance the military as part of post-conflict security guarantees.<\/p>\n

In January 2025, Zelensky said the Ukrainian army numbered 880,000 troops. However, leaked versions of a US peace roadmap floated last month reportedly call for the force to be capped at 600,000 after the conflict ends. Kiev and its European backers have argued Ukraine needs a larger military to deter a presumed Russian threat \u2013 a claim Moscow has dismissed as \u201cnonsense\u201d<\/em> \u2013 and have instead named a figure of 800,000.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Zelensky was asked whether Kiev would be able to support 800,000 active servicemen once the conflict is settled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill Ukraine be able to independently finance such an army if there\u2019s a ceasefire? No, it won\u2019t. We don\u2019t have the financial resources,\u201d<\/em> Zelensky said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m holding talks with [Western] leaders, because I view partial funding of our army by our partners as a security guarantee.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Putin envoy touts \u2018constructive\u2019 talks in Miami<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Kiev\u2019s European backers have spent weeks searching for ways to fund Ukraine\u2019s collapsing economy and military. This week, they failed to approve a \u2018reparations loan\u2019 backed by about $210 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets to cover Ukraine\u2019s huge budget gap. Instead, EU leaders chose common borrowing, planning to raise \u20ac90 billion ($105 billion) over the next two years, ultimately shifting the cost to taxpayers. Senior EU officials told Politico the loans would cost taxpayers <\/a>\u20ac3 billion a year in interest for as long as the loans remain outstanding.<\/p>\n

Russia has long accused Kiev\u2019s European backers of prolonging the conflict through their hawkish stance and continued financial support. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this week the EU appeared \u201cobsessed with finding money to continue the war.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n READ MORE: <\/span>Kremlin reacts to Zelensky\u2019s election claims
\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n

Moscow has said any lasting settlement must address the conflict\u2019s root causes, including Ukraine\u2019s NATO ambitions, and recognize the new territorial reality. Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, is in Miami for talks with senior US officials and described the first day as \u201cconstructive,\u201d<\/em> with discussions set to continue on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kiev wants Western aid for financing and maintaining its military to be included in post-conflict security guarantees Ukraine will not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3960"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3960"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3962,"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3960\/revisions\/3962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}