Ukraine Seeks 10 Years of Funding for an 800,000-Strong Army After the War

Ukraine wants financial backing to sustain an 800,000-strong military for at least a decade after the war with Russia ends, viewing a large standing force as a central safeguard against another Russian attack, AFP reported on November 11.

A senior Ukrainian source told AFP that Kyiv would need at least 10 years of financial support to maintain a military of that size and ensure Ukraine remains capable of defending itself in case of renewed Russian aggression.

The proposal comes as negotiations increasingly focus not only on ending the current war but also on the security architecture that would follow it.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has repeatedly rejected proposals to broaden ceasefire arrangements and insisted that Russian forces will continue offensive operations in Ukraine.

AFP noted that Moscow’s delegation includes senior diplomat Sergei Ryabkov, a notable choice given his role in presenting Russia’s sweeping security demands shortly before the full-scale invasion.

In late 2021, Ryabkov was among the Russian officials pressing for NATO to effectively roll back its military presence in Eastern Europe.

A source in the Russian delegation told AFP that ending the war was only “one item on the agenda,” while Moscow’s larger objective was to reshape the security system “for the entire continent.”

Ahead of trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi, Ukraine, European countries, the United States, and NATO again reaffirmed their “shared commitment to a postwar European security architecture.”

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War in Ukraine

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Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, said Kyiv’s immediate priorities remain securing a ceasefire and obtaining credible security guarantees.

“Our people are waiting to end this war,” Umerov said.

But Kyiv is also looking far beyond the ceasefire itself.

Ukraine’s position is that any postwar settlement must leave the country with enough military strength to deter Russia from simply rebuilding its forces and launching another attack years later.

Earlier, reports emerged that the European Union is taking its military assistance mission for Ukraine onto Ukrainian soil, marking a major expansion of a program that has already trained roughly 100,000 Ukrainian service members across Europe.

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