KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec 19 that the military had asked for an additional 450,000 to 500,000 people to be mobilised into the army, but that a final decision had not been taken.

The Ukrainian leader told a press conference in Kyiv that top military and government officials were due to discuss “this very sensitive issue of mobilisation” and that Parliament would then consider it.

Mr Zelensky said that conducting a mobilisation at such a scale would require additional financing.

“Their view was... they proposed mobilising an additional 450,000 to 500,000 people. This is a very serious number,” Mr Zelensky said.

“I said that I would need more arguments to support this move. Because, first of all, it’s a question of people, secondly, it’s a question of fairness, it’s a question of defence capability, and it’s a question of finances.”

Mr Zelensky said an additional 500 billion hryvnias (S$17 billion) in financing would be required to support the mobilisation if the decision would be taken.

Former defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said last summer that about one million people were engaged in Ukraine’s security and defence sector. REUTERS