Summary

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Europe that it cannot withstand Russia without Ukraine’s military, calling Ukraine’s victory vital to stopping Kremlin expansion.

Speaking to Polish media, Zelenskyy stressed that Russia’s larger, more brutal army would target other European nations if Ukraine falls.

He criticized Western allies for underestimating Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions, urging them to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses.

  • @x00z@lemmy.world
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    1916 hours ago

    Not really. Europe’s army is “small” because we have not been drafted.

    Populations:

    • Europe: 450 million
    • Russia: 150 million
    • Ukraine: 35 million

    Defending countries will draft most of their people, while the attackers draft far less. Countries that are not at war will simply not draft and will have a natural army size. (Which protects the country until people get drafted and trained)

    There’s no reason to compare apples and pears here.

    • @dubyakay@lemmy.ca
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      34 hours ago

      Europe’s population is ~744m.

      EU’s population is ~450m. Not Europe’s.

      However you’d also have to account for the population of all NATO countries, minus potentially the US, were it to come to a conflict against its members.

      • @x00z@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        Yes I meant EU. Which I think was what Zelensky meant. Russia is part of Europe the continent anyways.

    • @endeavor@sopuli.xyz
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      410 hours ago

      Only people taking the draft actually seriously would be nations that have been at war or occupied with russia. For westerners russia is “that funny accent vodka nation” instead of the existential, genocidal torture enthusiast nation waiting to end you.

      • @Shezzagrad@lemmy.ml
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        -87 hours ago

        No you’re just not one the important whites so you get treated like the rest of the world, difference being you’re close to Russia. Now if your have any melanin then your issue suddenly becomes America and the west as existential, genocidal torture enthusiast waiting to exploit every last resource you have and you let your nation collapse then have it funded by the IMF under their strict terms