Europe can fund half of Ukraine's army instead of its small peacekeeper contingent - Ukrainian officer

Colonel Biletsky expressed this opinion in an interview for Army TV, which was released on March 29, 2025.

"I was given a little insider information that Britain calculated: £2 billion would finance their contingent of around 10,000 people in Ukraine. Because there will be fantastic salaries, social guarantees, and completely different insurance policies. So, half of the money will go not directly to military expenses, but to military social benefits. Wouldn’t it be easier to convince the European Union to create a fund, at least for 10 years, to finance a 250,000-300,000-strong Ukrainian group? Ukraine itself could finance about 200,000-250,000, as it did before the war, and the EU could take on another 250,000. They could create a sovereign fund, into which money would be deposited, guaranteeing us automatic supplies of these funds for at least 10 years," Biletsky shared his idea.

As a result, he explained, in addition to reliably protecting their eastern borders, Europeans would also eliminate "political risks" like "coffins from Ukraine," which would "affect the approval ratings of Western politicians."

"It's beneficial for them — finances instead of, figuratively speaking, soldiers. And it's beneficial for us," noted the colonel.

Moreover, he added, despite their high staff and management culture, European armies currently lack the necessary combat experience to counter the Russian army and are not large in numbers. As Biletsky reminded, even the British, for example, plan to keep no more than 10,000 troops in Ukraine.

• On January 15, 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that currently, 880,000 soldiers serve in the Ukrainian army, defending the entire territory of the country.