There are plans to increase the number of Ukrainian troops due to the current threats, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said.
“We have plans to increase the number of the Ukrainian Armed Forces due to the current threats. And not only the number, but also the equipment and the number of weapons. We plan to do it a part of the development of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the near future,” the minister said while meeting with the military and diplomats accredited in Ukraine in Kyiv on Friday, Nov. 21.
Poltorak said this needs to be done “very promptly and appropriate decisions need to be made.”
Poltorak also said he regrets that stabilization of the situation in eastern Ukraine is being prevented by some factors, including external factors.
“The external factor and the presence of 7,500 representatives of the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian territory are a destabilizing factor and, unfortunately, prevent us from quickly stabilizing the situation in our state,” the Defense Ministry’s press service quoted him as saying.
The minister also said the Defense Ministry has also come up with a draft version of the new edition of Ukraine’s Military Doctrine, which envisages “the recognition of a military and potential enemy, specifies issues relating to modern military threats, expands the provisions on the use of military force, and a change in the neutral status of Ukraine.”
He also said work has begun to form draft versions of Ukraine’s Strategic Defense Bulletin and Ukraine’s State Armed Forces Development Program. The main indicators of these documents will be specified in the work on a draft version of the state defense armaments development program, Poltorak said.
“We are taking all possible measures to preserve the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The Armed Forces, thanks to assistance from the country’s administration and the entire Ukrainian society, continue increasing their combat capabilities to fulfill their tasks and are ready to repel armed aggression,” he said.
