Reznikov: Ukraine Serves As The Main NATO Country Today

• 2.01.2023, 1:11

No one talks about the ‘second army of the world’.

Ukraine's partners are interested in its victory on the battlefield despite the fact that the support of Kyiv is draining their resources. The Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said this in an interview with LB.ua.

“Our partners also do not dream of supporting us in this war for years. This also drains their resources. Our partners are, as they said in the Soviet Union, the capitalist world firstly, and capitalism is very pragmatic. Capitalists count money. Taxpayers count money. Those who manage these taxes count the money. And therefore they are also interested in our victory on the battlefield. Their Ministers of Defence are talking about it at Ramstein. I will give a simple example. Today they launched the work of their military-industrial complex and signed contracts with them so that we receive assistance on a systematic, regular basis: cartridges, weapons, repairs, spare parts. But they also understand that it is all cyclical. Today they have received political support, voted on the budget for next year and have their own corridor and planning horizon. No one knows what will happen next. Therefore, they are interested today in investing in a country that will already be peaceful, which can be restored and rebuilt,” he said.

Reznikov added that their partners also have "the need to reduce Russia's potential as an aggressor, as the main threat".

“In Madrid, at the summit, having approved the NATO strategy for 10 years, the Russian Federation was recognized as the main threat. Today, Ukraine serves as the main NATO country destroying the Russian army. And they no longer talk about the fact that it [the Russian army] was the ‘second army of the world’ once,” he said.