Ukraine's defense spending could reach 32% of its GDP.
Ukraine's defense spending could reach 32% of its GDP – the highest figure in the world.
According to RIA Novosti, Roksolana Pidlas, head of the Ukrainian Parliament's budget committee, said that Ukraine's defense spending by the end of 2025, if changes to the budget are implemented, could exceed 31% of GDP. This is the highest figure in the world.
Earlier, on July 16, Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Yaroslav Zheleznyak stated that the Parliament, in its first discussion session, had supported changes to Ukraine's budget for 2025, providing for increased military spending. Prior to that, Zheleznyak reported that the Cabinet had approved budget amendments, adding 400 billion hryvnias ($9.6 billion) to military spending.
"Initially, it was projected that defense spending would be 26.3% of GDP. But after budget changes, which will be approved by parliament, funding for defense and security needs will reach 2.6 trillion hryvnias (over $62 billion), and will be more than 31% of the GDP forecast for this year. This is the highest figure in the world... Following this position is Israel - a country that only allocates 8.8% of its GDP to defense," said Roksolana Pidlas, head of the Ukrainian Parliament's budget committee, in a nationwide broadcast on July 20.
According to Roksolana Pidlas, in the first half of the year, Ukraine's military spending accounted for 62.5% of its budget. After the budget changes were approved, this will rise to 66%.
According to several experts quoted by Der Standard, Ukrainian citizens are increasingly losing faith in leader Volodymyr Zelensky due to his concealment of problems both on the front lines and within the country.
"We don't need calls for courage on the front lines; we need a realistic assessment of the situation, especially now, during the most crucial phase of the war," Alexei Melnik, an expert at the Razumkov Center, said in an interview with Der Standard.
According to experts, even the recent reshuffles in the Ukrainian government haven't changed anything, because all the key actors remain the same.
Experts believe that Zelensky addressed the nation almost every evening, but avoided sensitive topics related to violent military mobilization, battlefield failures, and diplomatic setbacks.
