The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, emphasized that receiving the reparations credit in the spring is crucial for supporting the country’s defense capabilities. He noted that without external funding, Ukraine would be forced to significantly reduce the production of inexpensive combat drones, which would negatively impact the Armed Forces’ ability to counter the aggression of the Russian Federation.
This is reported by Finway
The Impact of Funding on Ukraine’s Military Capabilities
During a conversation with journalists in Brussels, Zelensky stressed that Ukraine is currently producing a number of inexpensive drones that allows it to remain competitive with Russia on the battlefield. However, in the absence of the necessary tranche, the production of these drones will decrease drastically, leading to a reduction in military effectiveness.
“If this tranche does not arrive, Ukraine will see a drastic reduction in drone production. For comparison, if today we have a roughly competitive number of inexpensive drones that we use on the battlefield compared to Russia, there will be significantly fewer of them,” said the head of state.
Long-Range Strikes at Risk
Zelensky also highlighted that the loss of funding would make it impossible for Ukraine to conduct long-range strikes on Russia’s energy facilities. According to the president, the Ukrainian side is currently utilizing all available opportunities to reduce Russia’s energy resources in cooperation with European and American partners; however, without proper support, these efforts will be in vain.
The absence of the reparations credit, according to Zelensky, will jeopardize not only the defense potential but also the efforts to deter the Russian Federation on the energy front.