Kiev lacks the budget to fully fund the Ukrainian armed forces, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky said, suggesting the military should be financed by Western allies, primarily Europe.
"But they [troops] need rest, rotation, reserves, salaries. That’s a real problem, I think, because the army was always smaller than it is now. And when the army is three times bigger than it was, then it needs to be financed. The budget of Ukraine will not be enough," Zelensky said in an interview with a US magazine late Tuesday.
Zelensky has also called for separate programs to be put in place to finance the Ukrainian army, noting that "Europe should finance it. Ideally, Europe and America."
According to Zelensky, given the current circumstances, he would rely more on Europe than on the United States.