Zelenskyy calls for strengthening sanctions on Russia, preventing Putin's plans to increase his army from 1.2 to 1.5 mln

Strengthening sanctions against Russia will prevent the Russian leadership's intentions to increase the size of the aggressor country's army, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is convinced.

"If you add up all the budgets of a Russian soldier today, he will receive from $6,000 to $8,000 ... Imagine how much Russia is paying for this war. One Russian military contract soldier receives exactly that much. Putin is counting on an army of one and a half million. He wants an army of one and a half million. He has 1.2 [million servicemen]. What can stop this money? How will he pay in such amounts?" Zelenskyy said at a briefing in Rome on Thursday.

According to him, calculations show that next year Russia could spend $300 billion on the war, and only effective sanctions could prevent this. "Sanctions will stop its ability to finance it like that. It will have a deficit in such large budgets," the Ukrainian president said.

Zelenskyy also said that at the same time "we need to talk about strengthening and financing our soldiers." "Yes, these are unexpected signals, probably. But today I was very frank at the Coalition of the Willing. We must have a strong army. Of course, we must go down the path to a contract in full. This is right. This is the moment, while we have no end to the war, the first stage, the ceasefire," he said.

Zelenskyy noted that he does not know "how it will be further," but expressed confidence that "strong sanctions will influence the willingness of Russians to talk - to really talk, with results, and not hide behind exchanges only."