Zelenskyy: Ukraine needs US$30bn to produce weapons and deter Russia – Bloomberg

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Western allies to provide around US$30 billion by the end of the year to increase domestic arms production and deter Russia's advance.

Source: Bloomberg

Details: "We are not operating at full capacity," Zelenskyy said on 27 May at a press conference in Kyiv. He noted that US$30 billion is needed to cover the deficit. He called this amount an approximate estimate of the cost of Ukraine's military objectives.

Zelenskyy's government is increasingly focusing on domestic efforts as Trump's diplomacy has yet to yield results and Russian troops have stepped up missile and drone attacks, with this month seeing some of the heaviest strikes in three years of war.

Funding is critical as international aid, which has been pouring in since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, is drying up and there is no end in sight to the fighting.

Zelenskyy said frozen Russian assets could be a source of funding, and he plans to call on the G7 countries to step up their efforts in this direction. Last year, the G7 offered a €50 billion (US$56.5 billion) loan package to be backed by proceeds from approximately US$300 billion in frozen Russian assets.

"There are Russian assets from the country that brought war to us. I believe there are many instruments available to finance Ukraine’s war efforts," Zelenskyy said. 

Zelenskyy also stressed the need to increase military drone stocks to 1,000 units and raise the number of drone operations against Russia from 100 to 300-500 per day.

"That will show the Russians that they will feel the response if our partners help us. This is not an issue of production capacity. It is an issue of funding," he said.

Background: Ukraine transferred US$770 million to foreign arms suppliers as an advance payment, but a significant portion of these weapons and ammunition were never delivered.

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