Funeral at Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, January 11, 2024. Source Getty Images
Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said in Davos that the cost of supporting Ukraine’s military as a proxy force against Russia was small compared to the total US budget, saying the security investment was such This will benefit the US military industrial complex.
Mr. Kuleba argued in an interview with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos that, unlike other US “allies”, Kiev does not even require US troops to be deployed on the ground.
“We offer the best deal in the global security market… Give us the weapons, give us the money and we will get the job done. So you save the day,” Mr. Kuleba said. The most important thing is the lives of our soldiers.”
The Ukrainian diplomat also claimed that Kiev “did not steal any money from American taxpayers”, arguing that “the amount allocated to Ukraine is at least a very small part” of the military budget. American affairs.
“Furthermore, a large amount of this money remains in the United States because it is invested in the production of weapons to be transferred to Ukraine,” he told reporters.
The US alone has sent Kiev more than 75 billion USD, including more than 45 billion USD in direct military aid, accounting for more than 5% of the 2024 budget proposed by the Pentagon.
Moscow also repeatedly accused the US and its allies of taking advantage of the Ukraine crisis to wage a “proxy war” against Russia and turn the battlefield into a testing ground for Western military equipment. Even the Pentagon and former UK Defense Secretary have described Ukraine as a “military innovation laboratory” and a “battle laboratory”.
The Russian Defense Ministry described Kiev’s losses in the conflict as catastrophic, estimating that the Ukrainian army had lost nearly 400,000 soldiers – killed and wounded – since February 2022, including more than 160,000 in The counterattack failed last year.
Kiev has never officially disclosed casualty figures, but the heavy losses have been indirectly corroborated by its ever-expanding mobilization efforts. Late last year, President Vladimir Zelensky announced that the country’s military had asked him to recruit 500,000 more recruits to strengthen its ranks, although the new mobilization bill has not yet been passed.