Moscow, Russia – Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador-at-large tasked with documenting what Moscow describes as the crimes of the Kyiv regime,
said that the Ukrainian authorities are economically unable to sustain an army of 800,000 soldiers.
He argued that insisting on this number practically means that
an external party will bear the burden of financing and supporting it.
Miroshnik explained that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
is promoting the need for Ukraine to have an army of 800,000 personnel.
While this is considered a condition for maintaining sovereignty, the economic reality, as he put it,
This does not allow Kyiv to cover the costs of an army of this size.
800,000 soldiers
He added: When they announce in advance that Ukraine needs 800,000 soldiers, it means one clear thing:
This is an army that Ukraine cannot feed, and someone else will have to support it.
The Russian official’s remarks come amid Western reports about American
and European plans concerning the future of the Ukrainian armed forces.
The New York Times reported that the US and EU vision includes the continued presence of a Ukrainian army.
It consists of approximately 800,000 soldiers, within long-term security arrangements.
Lack of will to reach a political settlement
For his part, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov considered Zelensky’s
insistence on this number in peacetime to be “completely unrealistic”.
He pointed out that this size is appropriate for the conditions of war and not for any path to peace.
Azarov said that insisting on an army of this size demonstrates
a lack of genuine intention to reach a political settlement.
Azarov stressed that the Ukrainian economy could not bear the burden of such a huge army.
He noted that sustaining an army of about 180,000 soldiers
before 2014 was a major challenge for the country.
The American peace plan
It is worth noting that the first version of the American peace plan
She was proposing to reduce the number of Ukrainian troops to 600,000 soldiers.
However, Kyiv and a number of European leaders insist on raising the number to 800,000.
