Ukraine Now Has Europe’s Biggest Military. What Happens to It When the War Ends?
Ukraine’s military is likely to rely more on cost-effective equipment like drones in the future. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press By Alistair MacDonald, The Wall Street Journal , Dec. 30, 2025 11:00 pm ET; original article contains additional illustrations When the war with Russia eventually ends, Ukraine will be left with a military larger and with more recent experience than any of its European backers’. Whether it can outlast Russia’s long-term designs in the event of any peace deal is a question for the entire continent, which now sees Ukraine as a bulwark against Moscow’s ambitions. Finding the money and personnel to maintain 800,000 troops and piles of equipment while devising new capabilities will be among the Ukrainian government’s hardest tasks in the immediate aftermath of the war. European Union leaders recently said they would lend Ukraine 90 billion euros, around $105 billion, fending off a looming cash crunch in Kyiv and...
