Size of AFU under possible agreement can be 800,000 personnel — Zelensky

The Armed Forces of Ukraine would number up to 800,000 troops under the draft of a possible peace agreement.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this during a press conference.

Zelensky said that various figures had appeared in previous documents and recalled that in 2022 there had been proposals to limit the Armed Forces to 40 or 50 thousand personnel. He noted that the current document reflected the real size of today's army, set at 800,000 service members, and that this figure had been agreed upon with the military leadership. He added that, in his view, this point had been sufficiently refined.

As reported earlier, on November 23 European countries prepared an alternative peace plan for ending Russia's war against Ukraine, which differs significantly from the plan proposed by Donald Trump's administration. The European proposal does not limit the size of Ukraine's Armed Forces, does not prohibit Ukraine's NATO membership, and explicitly states that Kyiv will not be forced to adopt a neutral status. Ukraine would also be free to invite friendly forces onto its territory at its own discretion, including troops from the Coalition of the Willing.