Security guarantees from the US and Europe: what Ukraine should count on

Neither European nor American security guarantees will be able to fully satisfy Ukraine – the army will always remain the only guarantor. Western allies, in turn, will only help with financing and the supply of weapons.

This opinion was expressed on the air of “Pryamoy” by investment banker Serhiy Fursa.

“In fact, neither European nor American security guarantees will be the security guarantees that Ukraine would like. One way or another, we understand that these will be agreements on, most likely, financing the Ukrainian army. Currently, the state spends 30 billion dollars on salaries, just on salaries for military personnel. Five of them are taxes, 25 are net,” Fursa noted.

However, he explains, Ukraine will not be able to find such funds on its own, so it will have to rely on assistance from the European Union.

“This is an incredibly large amount for Ukraine. And even if after the end of the hot phase of the war the army is halved, we understand that the question of raising salaries will arise. The amount will be like this, plus or minus. Ukraine itself will never attract such an amount. Therefore, the greatest guarantee of security is the Ukrainian army, that is, financing the Ukrainian army. This is something that we can negotiate with the European Union in the long term,” the investment banker added.

In addition to financing the Ukrainian army, according to him, another security guarantee will be the sale of weapons by Western allies, primarily the United States.

“Another security guarantee is, apparently, simply the sale of weapons. And this is something that Trump can get involved in. He likes to make deals, likes to sell, “to profit from blood,” as some Ukrainian politicians would say from a story from 2019. So now this is something that can be negotiated with him,” Serhiy Fursa is convinced.

As a reminder, on October 17, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a more than two-hour meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House. The leaders discussed security guarantees for Ukraine , the supply of weapons, including Tomahawk missiles, and the prospects for ending the war.

As “Pryamiy” reported, during the meeting in the “Ramstein” format, Ukraine and its allies agreed on new contributions and military assistance packages . The total amount of contributions to the PURL initiative and purchases of Ukrainian industry exceeds $1.1 billion.

In addition, as a result of the negotiations in Brussels, the pool of European allies willing to purchase American weapons for Ukraine’s needs under the PURL program has significantly expanded.

At the same time, Italy, which previously held a restrained position, unofficially agreed to join the group of NATO allies that finance the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine under the PURL program (Procurement for Ukraine by Allies & Partners of Requisite Lethality).

Also follow “Pryamim” on Facebook , Twitter , Telegram , and Instagram.