Ukraine to Need 1.5 Million Soldiers if It Doesn’t Join NATO: Zelensky
Vodolymyr Zelensky, Munich, Germany, Feb. 145. 2025. X/ @LCI
February 14, 2025 Hour: 12:35 pm
He expects part of those 1.5 million soldiers to come from the armed forces of allied countries.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that his country would need a force of 1.5 million soldiers to protect itself from potential new external aggressions if Ukraine is not accepted as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
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During the 61st Munich Security Conference, he mentioned that he expects part of those 1.5 million soldiers to come from the armed forces of allied countries.
“It doesn’t matter which country the forces come from,” Zelensky said, emphasizing the need for the U.S. to participate in one way or another in the effort to form that military force.
In recent weeks, he has been insisting that he will not accept reducing the number of personnel in the Ukrainian Army, as Russia might demand in a potential negotiation process.
He also stated that his administration would not accept any bilateral peace talks without Ukraine’s participation and underscored the importance of having European partners at the negotiating table.
Additionally, Zelensky said that a meeting in the Ukraine-U.S. format should serve as a starting point for the peace process to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed by negotiations with Russia.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump held a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, both of whom focused on negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.
The conversation was described as an “extensive and substantive dialogue” by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said that Trump supported a quick ceasefire and a peaceful resolution to the fighting, while Putin emphasized the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict.
On Wednesday, ministers from France, Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, and the European Commission met with Ukraine’s foreign minister in Paris.
“Our shared objectives should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength. Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations,” a joint statement from the seven countries and the European Commission noted.
“Ukraine should be provided with strong security guarantees. A just and lasting peace in Ukraine is a necessary condition for strong transatlantic security,” the statement said, adding that the European powers were looking forward to discussing the way forward with their American allies.
Trump stated that he agreed with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s decision to rule out Ukraine’s accession to NATO as part of a negotiated settlement to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that Europe would offer security guarantees for Ukraine even if NATO membership is not immediate.
Barrot stated that there would be no just peace for Ukraine without Europeans participating in the negotiations and that it was up to Ukrainians to decide the parameters of a peace accord.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: EFE – XInhua
