Zelensky admits Kiev lacks budget to finance Ukrainian forces
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Zelensky urges Europe to finance Ukraine's military, citing budget constraints, and expresses greater reliance on Europe over the US.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a briefing in Kiev, Ukraine, on March 25, 2025. (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Kiev does not have the budget to fully support the Ukrainian armed forces, urging Western allies, particularly European, to finance the military.
In an interview for Time on Tuesday, Zelensky said, "But they [troops] need rest, rotation, reserves, salaries. That’s a real problem, I think, because the army was always smaller than it is now. And when the army is three times bigger than it was, then it needs to be financed. The budget of Ukraine will not be enough."
The Ukrainian president has urged the establishment of separate programs to fund the Ukrainian army, emphasizing that "Europe needs to finance it. Ideally Europe and America."
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Zelensky also stated that, given the current situation, he would depend more on Europe than the United States.
Russia has consistently argued that Western arms shipments to Ukraine obstruct the peace process and involve NATO countries in the conflict. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov cautioned that any cargo carrying weapons for Ukraine will be considered a legitimate target for the Russian military.
Europe faces crucial shortage in gunpowder
On a related note, earlier last week, a Bloomberg report on March 21 revealed that Europe is facing a critical shortage of explosive materials, at a time when the availability of such material takes priority, forcing manufacturers to dramatically escalate operations to meet the continent's demand as it boosts its military aid to Ukraine ahead of the limited ceasefire with Russia.
Since the war in Ukraine broke out in 2022, Nitrochemie Aschau, a subsidiary of the German defense giant Rheinmetall, has significantly expanded its production capacity, raising its output by 60% and actively constructing new facilities to boost capacity by an additional 40% by mid-2025, according to Bloomberg.
Read next: EU states to deploy 10,000 troops to Ukraine in 'peacekeeping mission'
The report added that the company hired an additional 300 people, welcoming workers from the automotive and chemicals sectors to strengthen its workforce in a bid to keep its production lines running all day to meet Europe's demand for ammunition.
Rheinmetall aims to increase its gunpowder production by more than 50% by 2028, but even that may not be enough. CEO Armin Papperger told Bloomberg that the company might need to nearly double its output to over 20,000 metric tons to meet growing demand.
European governments tapped into their munitions stockpiles to arm Ukraine, revealing critically low reserves. Since then, efforts to ramp up artillery, missile, and bullet production have pushed supplies of gunpowder, TNT, and other explosives to the limit.
