Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal believes that despite disproportionate military budgets, Ukraine has won the first stage of the war with Russia.

"If Russia stops fighting, there will be peace. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine will cease to exist. This feeling pervades the entire Ukrainian society," Shmyhal wrote in an op-ed for the Financial Times.

According to the prime minister, some 95% of Ukrainians believe in the victory of Ukraine over Russia, and the courage of the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian people stirred the whole world.

"In order to understand the scale of this heroism, you should at least look at the military budgets of the two countries. Ukraine's servicemen spending over the past five years amounted to about $20 billion. Russia's military spending is about $350 billion. Despite this, Ukraine won the first stage of the war," the prime minister said.

At the same time, Shmyhal complained that the war on the territory of Ukraine is causing incredible damage to the economy.

"Watching all this, it may seem that everything is not so bad: the government is working, the state is fulfilling its social obligations, transport, communications and the Internet are working. But this does not make the war less bloody, people die every day, fierce battles continue, every day Ukrainian cities are bombed. The fact that Ukraine remains governed only speaks of the stability of our state," he said.

Shmyhal said Ukraine will continue to fight for as long as necessary, but asks the whole world to help in this fight.