War Spending Tops USD 120B Annually, Zelensky Says

2025-09-17 03:10:25

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) The head of state made the remark during a joint media briefing with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“The cost of this war today - and the challenges we face - the price of one year is USD 120 billion. Of that, USD 60 billion comes from the Ukrainian budget. We still need to find USD 60 billion more next year,” Zelensky said.

He also stressed that he hopes the war will end this year.

“I hope we finish this war, but in any case: plan 'A' - end it; plan 'B' - USD 120 [billion]. That's it. This is a big problem. I'm not saying that in peacetime, during a ceasefire, or under security guarantees we will need equally large sums for ten years. But in any case, you must understand the scale of the issue,” the President of Ukraine said.

Read also: Ukraine's draft state budget for 2026: NBU comments on forecast of record profit transfer

As previously reported, total spending on national security and defense in the draft 2026 budget is set at UAH 2.8 trillion, 6.5% more than this year's spending. Of that amount, UAH 44.8 billion is allocated for domestic production of weapons and ammunition, and UAH 37.6 billion for drone production.

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