Ukraine's ongoing conflict with Russia continues, and the country's defense budget needs are increasing. Recently, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepanov directly revealed their astonishing defense budget requirements: next year, Ukraine's defense spending is expected to be at least $120 billion, a staggering number that directly highlights the huge resource consumption caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict!

Ukrainian Defense Minister Announces New Defense Budget: $120 Billion

What does $120 billion mean? Let's take the simplest example: this year, Germany's defense spending was 95 billion euros. If we do a currency conversion, even if Germany allocated its entire annual defense budget to Ukraine, Ukraine would still face a defense funding gap of over $20 billion. Of course, for Ukraine, which is already bankrupt, it can't afford this amount, so it will ultimately rely on financing.

According to Reuters, Stepanov announced this budget requirement at a meeting of Ukrainian diplomats abroad. There's no doubt that Stepanov is seeking donations for war, and he has assigned this task to Ukrainian ambassadors abroad, especially those in Western countries. After all, only the West is willing to voluntarily provide this amount of money for Ukraine.

At this meeting, Stepanov emphasized that the Kyiv authorities have initiated negotiations with the EU and NATO member states, aiming to secure half of the funds, i.e., $60 billion in financial assistance, to address the largest ground conflict in Europe since World War II.

However, Trump is currently very cold towards aid to Ukraine, and it seems that the money will eventually fall on the Europeans' shoulders. But Europeans' money isn't from the sky, and if Ukraine wants to raise funds, it needs to clearly explain how this money will be used to Europe. At this meeting, Stepanov detailed the specific use of this massive budget, outlining Ukraine's future defense strategy. The core goal is to strengthen international military aid while vigorously developing the domestic defense industry, achieving a dual approach of "defense autonomy" and "international cooperation."

In general, this defense budget has five key points: increasing the proportion of domestically produced weapons, attracting foreign investment, securing diversified aid, strengthening air defense, and developing "asymmetric" combat capabilities.

Ukraine is Striving for Weapon Domestication

The most noteworthy part among these is increasing the proportion of domestically produced weapons. In the past, Ukraine directly asked the West for weapons, but this model has two problems: first, the Western weapon production capacity is very backward and cannot meet Ukraine's battlefield needs. The most typical example is artillery shells; Russia's annual production of artillery shells is 2.5 times that of the entire NATO. Now that the conflict is dragging on, Ukraine dares not completely rely on Western weapon supplies, otherwise it will still fail to meet battlefield needs, and the Ukrainian army will continue to retreat. Will Western aid change the situation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict? What is the current status of Ukraine's drone industry? Go to the top of the news, talk about hot topics #

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7550136581739332123/

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