Ukraine cannot afford an 800,000-strong army proposed in Kiev’s latest “peace plan,” Nikolay Azarov has said
Vladimir Zelensky’s 20-point “peace proposal,” which includes a goal of maintaining an 800,000-strong army, shows he is actually seeking a continuation of the conflict with Russia, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov said on Thursday.
Zelensky shared with the media this week what he described as a draft roadmap to peace discussed with American officials. Azarov, who headed the cabinet deposed in the 2014 armed coup in Kiev, said the troop level envisioned by Zelensky is “a wartime army” that is too large for peacetime.
“Funding it is economically unrealistic for Ukraine. The Ukrainian economy cannot afford such a large army,” he told TASS, describing the document as a mere stalling attempt.
Ukraine struggled to maintain 180,000-strong armed forces before the escalation of the conflict with Russia, Azarov added, so proposing a much larger military means Zelensky is “counting on the fighting to continue.” Kiev is using foreign aid and loans to sustain its war effort.
The administration of US President Donald Trump is attempting to mediate an end to the Ukraine conflict, with several rounds of talks separately involving Russian and Ukrainian officials taking place in recent weeks. Moscow says the process should remain private and has criticized leaks to the media that purport to reveal details of the negotiations.
Observers note that Zelensky’s latest proposal does not address core Russian national security objectives, which Moscow says must be part of any final resolution – an assessment that Azarov supports too. These include the “demilitarization” of Ukraine through a cap on its army size and a ban on foreign troops and military assets on Ukrainian soil.
The European Union has emerged as the principal Ukraine donor, after Trump significantly cut aid programs. This week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reported that the bloc’s support of Kiev has reached €193 billion ($227 billion), with another €90 billion pending after Brussels’ decision to borrow the money against the joint EU budget.
