President Zelensky made this statement while speaking with journalists at the Munich Security Conference, as reported by Kontrakty.
“As long as we are not in NATO, or until we join NATO, we will have to defend ourselves with an army capable of self-defense. This means having the appropriate NATO weapons and a sufficient number of our Ukrainian soldiers. What is that number? I’m providing you with figures that we understand from all military sources. It will be an army of 1.5 million,” Zelensky stated.
He also added that the United States, specifically President Donald Trump, is not ready to discuss Ukraine’s position in the Alliance. According to Zelensky, they believe that Ukraine's membership in NATO would escalate tensions and serve as the main factor for the Russian occupation of our territories.