Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Hnatov stated that during the negotiations with the American side in Geneva, there was no discussion of reducing the Ukrainian army.
He said this in an interview with Liga.net.
According to him, it was only about the size of the Ukrainian army in peacetime, it was a "discussion topic".
Gnatov added that the "correct idea" expressed during the US-Ukrainian negotiations was that the best guarantee for Ukraine would be an equipped and combat-ready army.
He also stated that the General Staff has an understanding of how to encourage military personnel to remain in service after the end of hostilities.
"All institutions should work here. We need to understand what the Ukrainian army will be like, its size, financial support, social guarantees for servicemen, and many other issues. This work is not only within the competence of the General Staff. We have a vision. This is a working document, it is being worked on," the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted.
- The initial version of the 28-point plan proposed by the US stated that Ukraine should reduce the size of its Armed Forces to 600 000. After a series of negotiations in Switzerland, the plan was reduced to 19 points, and the Financial Times reported that Ukraine had agreed to limit its army to 800 000 troops.
- At the same time, the most controversial issues have been put on hold, including the issues of territories and relations between the United States, NATO, and Russia. They are to be discussed by Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump.
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