There will be no sharp reduction in the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the end of the war: Denys Shmyhal
Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal stated, that the authorities do not plan to drastically reduce the size of the Ukrainian army after the end of the war, as the Armed Forces remain the best “guarantee of security”.
“The Ukrainian army will not be drastically reduced after the end of this war. It will be a very smooth and calculated process, and it will not be fast, it will be smooth.” – emphasized the minister.
Shmyhal emphasized that well-equipped and well-trained Security and Defense Forces are “the best guarantee of security” for Ukraine.
“After the end of this war, Russia will remain an existential threat to Ukraine for a very long and long time, perhaps always. Accordingly, our best guarantee of security is our armed forces”, — added the head of the Ministry of Defense.
He also noted that Ukraine is currently consulting with its partners regarding the future number of troops after the war:
“Whether it will be a million, or 800,000, or some other figure, we are now calculating and really consulting with our partners, which contingent of the Ukrainian Armed Forces should remain in order to reliably protect the eastern flank of Europe, the eastern flank of NATO.”
In addition, according to him, the issue of joint financing of the Ukrainian army with international partners is currently being discussed.
It will be recalled that at the beginning of January 2025, Volodymyr Zelenskyi reported that the Defense Forces of Ukraine had a total of 880,000 servicemen.
