President: deployment of European military contingent in Ukraine cannot be the only guarantee of security
Kyiv • UNN
The President said that the European military contingent could become part of the security guarantees, but not the only one. Currently, the Ukrainian army has 880 thousand soldiers. About 33-34% of all weapons in Ukraine today are domestically produced.
Ukraine does not oppose the deployment of a European military contingent in Ukraine, but this cannot be the only security guarantee for the Ukrainian state, because it is not enough. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, UNN reports.
Details
We are talking to the French side about the European contingent on the territory of Ukraine. So far, these are rather general things. We support the idea that a contingent of certain countries, our allies, our strategic partners, is and can become part of security guarantees. This cannot be the only security guarantee, it will not be enough. We will discuss this issue with the leader of the United Kingdom. Yes, we have raised this issue with our Baltic partners. But of course, we need to have a complete map of security guarantees for Ukraine, where a military contingent may become part of it, not that it will. The question is what kind of contingent, which countries, what kind of quantitative and qualitative composition, and where they are located
According to him, the contingent should include instructors with an extensive training program and training of Ukrainian military in Ukraine.
"We are also discussing this issue within the framework of this program, if it happens, regarding the deployment of forces and means. The question is that this is not enough, because... even after the war, we must understand who we are dealing with. Now there are about 600 thousand Russian troops on the territory of our country. Maybe a little less, depending on how our guys worked today. As for the Ukrainian army, today it is 880 thousand, but we have to defend the entire territory. Russian troops are concentrated in some areas, and therefore they have a numerical advantage there. When the war is over, we must understand what the contingent of other countries is. We support this idea, but we need to understand what kind of army Ukraine will have, which today actually defends not only Ukraine, because it is a very large army. We are not playing games with reports of reductions... we are not playing this today, because it is such a large army that is holding back the enemy today," Zelensky said.
He emphasized that the only guarantee of security for Ukraine today is the Ukrainian army.
"How do you maintain such a large army? This is also an agreement. There is funding for such a large army. If you look at the weapons. We started the war in the proportions of European and US aid and Ukrainian production, and today we have different proportions. Today, about 33-34% of all weapons in Ukraine are domestically produced. This is a serious growth. It was less than 10%, now it is 33-34%. About 30% are from Europe and about 40% from the United States. And so, when people ask the question, what if we don't have this help, what if we don't have that help? We cannot look at the guarantees of today's support for Ukraine without one player - Europe and the United States. It is important for us to preserve this alliance, because it is also a guarantee of security," the Head of State added.
He also stated that Russia currently produces or has more equipment than Ukraine in many aspects, although Europe has more military-oriented plants.
He also reiterated that NATO membership is a frequent guarantee for Ukraine.
Recall
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron the deployment of partner contingents and training of the Ukrainian military.
