If Ukraine does not receive strong security guarantees, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will return with an army ten times more powerful. As reported by a UNIAN correspondent, this confidence was expressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his speech at the World Economic Forum.
The head of state emphasized that everyone needs to understand the positions that Ukraine, Russia, the USA, and Europe were in at the beginning of 2022, and where they all stand now. In his belief, these technical details are crucial for understanding how the assistance Ukraine receives impacts the situation and what risks exist.
"If we recall the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in 2022, we can be certain that the Russian grouping was around 200,000... Today, there are 608,000 Russian troops on Ukrainian territory. This means that this grouping is three times larger than the one that attacked us at the beginning of 2022. Therefore, when people say that there is sufficient assistance - compare what it was then, and what is happening now," Zelensky stated.
He added that at the beginning of the invasion, assistance from the USA accounted for about 90% of all support for Ukraine. Today, Ukrainian forces on the battlefield receive about 40% of assistance thanks to domestic production, 40% from the USA, and 30% from Europe. Zelensky stressed that Ukraine is managing due to a significant increase in domestic production and growth in production in Europe and the USA:
""But this is not enough, because we have grown exponentially, while Europe has not grown at the same rate."
The President of Ukraine further noted that it is essential to understand how Ukraine will sustain itself without assistance and what Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will do.
"What can he do if there are no clear strong security guarantees? He has also exponentially increased his production. He currently has over 30 factories in the military sector. Europe has 45. And he produces nearly twice as much as Europe. So, you see, he is investing everything into this, while Europe is under-investing... And when you lack strong security guarantees, the volumes will decrease, and we will have to rely solely on ourselves and Europe, and that is insufficient. It is necessary for Europe and the United States to be united (for supporting Ukraine - UNIAN)," Zelensky believes.
In his opinion, further demands from Putin may concern the exit of the Baltic states from NATO:
"If Putin returns? He will certainly return with an army ten times larger than the grouping at the beginning of 2022, because it is already almost 4.5 times larger. And when he returns with this grouping, what will he return for? For the complete occupation of all countries that were once republics of the Soviet Union. That is number one. And then he will act as he did with our Crimea."
As UNIAN reported, Kiev does not consider security guarantees for Ukraine without involving the United States of America. According to Zelensky, Ukraine needs serious, effective security guarantees. Today, the "French initiative" regarding the deployment of a contingent is being discussed.
Zelensky is convinced that Ukraine's accession to NATO could serve as a security guarantee not only for our country but also for Russia. A fair conclusion to the war would reduce the likelihood that Ukrainians would go to kill Russians in the future. He believes that Ukrainians will be very outraged if our country does not receive security guarantees after the war concludes.