Addressing the country’s parliament on a day of visits from British, Dutch, and Polish leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated the scale of Western support in the face of a pending Russian invasion.
“Support for Ukraine is the biggest since 2014, unconditional and continues,” Zelensky told Ukraine’s parliament, according to AFP.
Zelensky also announced an expansion of his country’s army, signing a decree to increase the size of Ukraine’s forces by 100,000 active soldiers.
In addition, Zelensky added that a new “format of political cooperation” was being created alongside the U.K. and Poland which would cover security, trade, investment, and energy.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has also promised to provide defensive weaponry, such as anti-aircraft missiles, as well as humanitarian aid.
Compared to Russia, Ukraine is severely outnumbered in terms of military capabilities. Ukraine currently has 1.1 million troops (200,000 active and 900,000 in reserve), while Russia has 2.9 million troops (900,000 active and 2 million in reserve).
In addition, Ukraine only has 98 attack aircraft to Russia’s 1,511; 34 attack helicopters to Russia’s 544; 2596 tanks to Russia’s 12,240; and 12,303 armored vehicles to Russia’s 30,122.
This week, there were angry clashes between Russian and U.S. envoys at the United nations Security Council, following U.S. calls for a meeting to discuss Russia’s military buildup along their border with Ukraine.
“U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the mobilization was the biggest Europe had seen in decades,” the BBC reported. “Her Russian counterpart accused the US of fomenting hysteria and unacceptable interference in Russia’s affairs.”
“Today in the United Nations Security Council, the United States presented in detail the full nature of Russia’s threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And we made clear to the international community the full implications of that threat — not just for Ukraine, but for core tenets of the UN Charter and the modern international order,” President Biden announced in a statement following the United Nations Security Council meeting. “If Russia is sincere about addressing our respective security concerns through dialogue, the United States and our Allies and partners will continue to engage in good faith. If instead Russia chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Russia will bear the responsibility, and it will face swift and severe consequences.”
“The United States and our Allies and partners continue to prepare for every scenario. The world must be clear-eyed about the actions Russia is threatening and ready to respond to the risks those actions present to all of us,” Biden concluded. “Today’s Security Council meeting is a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice: rejecting the use of force, calling for military de-escalation, supporting diplomacy as the best path forward, and demanding accountability from every member state to refrain from military aggression against its neighbors.”
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
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Source: Dailywire
