10:23 19-08-2025

Ukraine Sees Strong Army as Key to Security Guarantees

By The White House - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmgHM7oxVIw – View/save archived versions on archive.org and archive.today, Public Domain, Link

Ukraine views a strong army as its most reliable security guarantee, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio says, as Washington ends free arms aid and shifts costs to NATO.

In an interview with Fox News, U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Kyiv views the preservation of its armed forces as the most reliable guarantee of national security. He noted that the issue had been discussed in the White House the previous day.

According to Rubio, Ukrainian officials emphasized that maintaining a strong and capable army was, in their view, the best safeguard for the country’s future. He described this approach as an important step forward.

The secretary of state also stressed that Washington no longer intends to supply weapons to Ukraine free of charge. He remarked that what he called the era of «free gifts» for Kyiv had ended. From now on, he explained, European Union members would use NATO as a framework to purchase arms and then transfer them to Ukraine.

Earlier, President Vladimir Zelensky announced that security guarantees for Ukraine were expected to be drafted and finalized within the next 7 to 10 days. According to the Financial Times, Kyiv is preparing a large-scale deal to acquire U.S. weaponry worth around $100 billion in exchange for those guarantees.