Without NATO, Ukraine would need to build and finance a 1.5 million-strong military to fend off Russia effectively, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference in Munich on Friday.
During the conference, Zelensky said it would also cost $60 billion to maintain an army of that size per year.
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“If we are not in NATO or until we are in NATO, we must have exactly the kind of army that is capable of protecting. These are appropriate weapons. NATO. And the appropriate number of soldiers. Ours, Ukrainians. But what kind of number is this?” he asked.
“I’m just telling you the numbers that we understand with all the military. It will be an army of 1.5 million. One and a half million!” Zelensky said, not specifying if the number includes reservists.
Zelensky said the Ukrainian military has only 110 combat brigades – as opposed to Russia’s 220 – which costs $40 billion per year to run at present.
In an interview with American podcaster Lex Fridman on Jan. 6, Zelensky said Ukraine has 980,000 military personnel in service at present.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Ukraine’s NATO bid “unrealistic” this week, a view echoing US President Donald Trump’s later statement on Thursday.
While Hegseth also rejected US troop’s deployment to Ukraine as part of future security guarantees, US Vice President J.D. Vance later said the proposal is not off the table.
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The US military has 1.3 million military personnel in active service as of September 2023.
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