If not in NATO, Ukraine needs NATO weapons, 1.5 million-strong army – Zelenskyy

He made this statement during a conversation with journalists at the Munich Security Conference.  

"Today's U.S. and President Trump are not ready to talk about NATO. They openly say this. They believe that Ukraine cannot be in NATO because it would escalate tensions with the Russians. They think that NATO in the Constitution is the main factor behind the occupation of Ukraine," said the President of Ukraine.

The head of state also emphasized that Ukraine aims to join NATO for security guarantees.  

"We trust NATO, we trust these security guarantees. I speak pragmatically, honestly, and believe that this is the cheapest option for everyone. Clearly, there will be an army of the appropriate size, supported by all allies. And there will be many different conditions regarding NATO membership, and so on," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In his opinion, while Ukraine is not a NATO member, it has to develop its own defense capabilities in cooperation with European partners.

"And if we are not in NATO, or until we join NATO, we will need an army capable of defending ourselves. This requires appropriate NATO-standard weapons and a sufficient number of Ukrainian soldiers. But what is that number? I am sharing the estimates we have from the military — our army will need to be 1.5 million strong. Currently, our forces are not exactly half that size, but in terms of combat brigades, we have about half of what we need. They (Russia - ed.) have 220 combat brigades, while we have 110. So, we need 220," the president stated.

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