Europe Needs To Create An Army; Zelenskyy Warns
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called for the creation of an “army of Europe” to guard against Russia as he suggested the US may no longer come to the continent’s aid.
At the Munich Security Conference, he also said that Ukraine would “never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement” after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to start peace talks.
On Friday, US Vice President JD Vance warned that Europe needed to “step up in a big way” on defence.
Reacting to JD Vance’s speech, Zelensky said that he believes the time has come to create the armed forces of Europe
Earlier this week, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was a “factory reset” for Nato which signalled the alliance needed to be “robust”, “strong” and “real”.
On Saturday, Zelensky said: “Let’s be honest. Now we can’t rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on an issue that threatens it.
“Many, many leaders have talked about Europe that needs its military.
“An army, an army of Europe.”
The concept of a European army has also been proposed by other leaders, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron who has long backed the bloc’s military to reduce its reliance on the US.
Zelenskyy said: “A few days ago, President Trump told me about his conversation with Putin. Not once did he mention that America needs Europe at the table – that says a lot.
