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MUNICH — European leaders should start to create a European army in response to Russia’s military build-up, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday.
“I really believe that the time has come that the armed forces of Europe must be created,” Zelenskyy said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference. “Let’s be honest, now we can’t rule out that America might say no to Europe on issues that might threaten it.”
As the third anniversary of Russia’s all-out invasion nears on Feb. 24, Zelenskyy said Europe needed to coalesce behind a single foreign and defense policy that would show America that the bloc is serious about its own security.
Despite steep losses, Russian President Vladimir Putin is adding 150,000 troops to his armed forces, larger than most European armies, Zelenskyy said, and is opening army recruitment offices each week. “Oil prices are still high enough for him to ignore the world,” he said.
Ukraine’s leader said his intelligence services “have clear intel that this summer Russia plans to send troops to Belarus under pretext of training exercises,” adding that could be the start of operations against other neighboring European countries.
There is growing talk of a U.S.-led effort to end the war, with President Donald Trump beginning direct talks with Putin. But Zelenskyy warned that the Russian leader is a very unreliable partner.
Zelenskyy told the Munich security gathering on Friday that Putin was a liar and couldn’t be trusted to reach a peace deal.
Despite talk of efforts to end the fighting, Russia is continuing to wage war against Ukraine.
Just hours before the conference got underway, a Russian attack drone hit the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor carrying at least 15 kilograms of explosive, Zelenskyy said.
“This is not just madness, this is Russia’s stance,” Zelenskyy said. “A country that launches such attacks does not want peace.”
This story is being updated.
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