Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to ask European allies to help finance improved salaries for troops resisting Russia’s invasion, in a bid to ease growing shortages of recruits.

“Previously, Europeans refused to provide funding for the salaries of our military personnel, only for weapons,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday. “Our service members themselves can be the weapon that protects everyone.”

With a mobilization campaign in Ukraine increasingly unpopular among a population fatigued by the war that’s in its fourth year, Zelenskyy’s government wants to motivate more volunteers by offering substantial payments for those who sign military contracts. Russia has long offered large signing bonuses and high salaries to lure tens of thousands to its army each month, seeking to avoid any repeat of a spike in public anxiety when President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial draft a few months into the 2022 invasion.

Increasing payments to soldiers would add to strains on Ukraine’s state budget, which had a deficit exceeding 20% of gross domestic product last year amid massive military spending. The war-torn nation relies on tens of billions of dollars in aid from its foreign allies, who have so far rejected the idea of directly covering military expenses.

While the International Monetary Fund, which is providing a loan program worth about $16 billion, is urging Kyiv to shrink the budget gap, the government has no plans to raise taxes, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told Bloomberg News in an interview. Global donors have earmarked only half of the estimated $75 billion needed for the budget over the next two years, she said.

Ukraine needs $25 billion annually to produce drones, jamming equipment and missiles to defend against Russia, which will bring the budget deficit to $65 billion next year, according to Zelenskyy.

It has begun discussions on the issue with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as U.S. officials, he said. “This is a very difficult topic,” Zelenskyy added.

Ukrainian companies have started manufacturing interceptor drones, and about $6 billion is required urgently to ramp up production, the president said.

While he said the U.S. has agreed to buy drones designed and produced in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said he’s seeking a contract worth between $10 billion and $30 billion. Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov and Presidential Adviser Oleksandr Kamyshin have been tasked with handling the negotiations, he said.

The president told reporters that Ukrainian forces had made “solid progress” in stalling Russian advances on the battefield. The situation in the northeastern Sumy region was now significantly better for Kyiv, though Russia remains focused on gains in the area as well as toward Pokrovsk, while the Dnipropetrovsk region “is very much desired by them,” he said.

Zelenskyy said the third round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul on Wednesday yielded some progress toward preparing a meeting with Putin.

Russian officials have said there’s little point to a summit before the sides have negotiated an agreement to end the war.

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