President Zelensky has dramatically called for the creation of a European army – as he warned countries on the continent now needed to fight for ‘their own sake’.
The Ukrainian leader said on Saturday that Europe must take the threat of further war seriously amid concerns the US would negotiate a peace deal with the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, Zelensky warned President Donald Trump not to deal with Vladimir Putin ‘behind our backs’ when it comes to Ukraine’s future.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he said: ‘I believe the time has come to create an armed forces of Europe. Money alone will not stop an enemy assault.
‘It is not just about budgets, it is about people realising they need to defend their own home.’
We need this so that ‘decisions about Europe are made in Europe’, Zelensky added.
The Ukrainian leader was alluding to a phone conversation between Trump and Putin, after which the Republican president said the two would likely meet to negotiate a peace deal.
Trump later assured Zelensky that he, too, would have a seat at the table to end the war that was sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the 61st Munich Security Conference on Saturday
Ukrainian mortarmen pictured during conflict with Russian forces in Toretsk on February 14
US President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Vladimir Putin during a news conference in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, July 16, 2018
‘Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement, and the same rule should apply to all of Europe,’ Zelensky 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.
‘The old days are over when America supported Europe just because it always had.’
Zelensky insisted that ‘three years of full-scale war have proven that we already have the foundation for a united European military force’.
And noting the presence of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the audience, Zelensky explained that his idea ‘wasn’t about replacing the alliance’.
‘This is about making Europe’s contribution to our partnership equal to America’s’, the Ukrainian leader said.
Zelensky was speaking shortly after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took aim at the new political tack from Washington under the Trump administration.
Scholz shot back strongly and said his country won’t accept people who ‘intervene in our democracy’ – alluding to remarks made by US Vice President JD Vance yesterday.
US Vice-President JD Vance sat down with Mr Zelensky in Munich last night to discuss the conflict
Ukrainian mortarmen pictured during conflict with Russian forces in Toretsk on February 14
However, Scholz said he was ‘pleased’ at what he called a shared commitment with the United States to the ‘preserving the sovereign independence of Ukraine.
He also said he agreed with Trump that the Russia-Ukraine war must end.
It comes as Russia yesterday launched a drone attack on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant, significantly damaging a radiation shelter, Ukraine claimed.
Zelensky said on X that a Russian attack drone ‘with a high-explosive warhead struck the shelter protecting the world from radiation at the destroyed 4th power unit of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant’.
He said the shelter was damaged but that the fire has since been extinguished. The cover is used to prevent radiation after the 1986 nuclear disaster which sent a radioactive cloud across Europe.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported an ‘explosion’ at the site and said it is continuing to monitor the plant, but added that radiation levels have not increased and remain stable.
CCTV footage posted by the Ukrainian leader showed a blast on the side of the Chernobyl structure in footage that was timestamped 02:02am on Friday morning.
The video also showed a fire erupting and hole in the roof, with firefighters using a hose to extinguish the blaze from the inside of the dome.
CCTV footage posted by the Ukrainian leader showed a blast on the side of the Chernobyl structure in footage that was timestamped 02:02am on Friday morning
President Putin attends a meeting with Governor of the Bryansk region Alexander Bogomaz on February 13
Pictures appear to show damage on the shelter of the destroyed power unit at the plant
Wreckage of the military drone that hit the wrecked Chernobyl reactor cover was shown but the type was not immediately clear
Zelensky insisted that Russia is ‘the only country in the world that attacks such sites, occupies nuclear power plants, and wages war without any regard for the consequences,’ adding that it is ‘a terrorist threat to the entire world.’
Moscow denied being behind the blast, and suggested Ukrainian officials made the claim because they wanted to thwart efforts to end the war through negotiations after US President Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin about reaching a peace deal.
There is no talk about striking on nuclear infrastructure, nuclear energy facilities, any such claim isn’t true, our military doesn’t do that,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
‘It’s obvious that there are those (in the Ukrainian government) who will continue to oppose any attempts to launch a negotiation process, and it’s obvious that those people will do everything to try to derail this process,’ he added.
Zelensky responded to the alleged attack in his speech at the Munich Security Conference today, criticising Russia.
He said: ‘Russia is not preparing for dialogue… keeps opening new army recruitment centres.. Putin can afford it… oil prices are still high enough for him to afford it.
‘We have clear intel that he will sends troops to Belarus this summer… Is this force meant to attack Ukraine? Maybe, or maybe it is meant for you.’