Ukrainian president says time has come for 'armed forces of Europe'

Munich [Germany], February 16: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the creation of an "armed forces of Europe" as he addressed the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
Zelensky urged Europe to shape its own future in view of the threat emanating from Russia as well as weakening US commitment to the continent's security. "The time has come, the armed forces of Europe must be created," he said.
Such troops should not replace NATO, but level European defence contributions with those made by the United States, he said.
"Yesterday here in Munich, the US vice president made it clear. Decades, he said, decades of the old relationship between Europe and America are ending," Zelensky said, referring to US Vice President JD Vance who addressed the gathering on Friday.
"From now on, things will be different, and Europe needs to adjust to that," the Ukrainian president said, adding that Trump would reduce spending on European defence.
"Europe needs a single voice, not a dozen different ones," Zelensky said, adding that "President Trump doesn't like weak friends." "Some in Europe may be frustrated with Brussels," he said. "But let's be clear: if not Brussels, then Moscow."
In a speech on Friday, in which he attacked European democracies, US Vice President JD Vance warned that Europe needed to "step up in a big way" on defence.
Earlier last 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 own military.
"An army, an army of Europe." The concept of a European army is something that has been proposed by other leaders, including France's President Emmanuel Macron who has long backed the bloc's own military to reduce its reliance on the US.
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." As Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears its three-year anniversary, Trump and Hegseth have both said it is unlikely that Ukraine will join NATO.
The US defence secretary also said a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders was unrealistic.
Zelensky said he would "not take Nato membership for Ukraine off the table".
Trump had a phone call with Putin last week where they discussed peace talks regarding Ukraine, apparently sidelining key allies.
Zelensky said that, as well as Ukraine, Europe "should have a seat at the table when decisions about Europe are being made".
The US president later said that he and Putin planned to meet in Saudi Arabia, and wrote on social media that the two had invited each other to their respective capitals.
But Zelensky accused Putin of playing a "game", by isolating America in "one-on-one" talks.
"Next, Putin will try to get the US president standing on Red Square 9 May this year, not as a respected leader but as a prop in his own performance," Zelensky said.
No date has been set for Trump's visit to Moscow. Russia celebrates "Victory Day" on May 9, when it marks its triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945.
On Ukraine's involvement in talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that Kiev "will of course one way or another be taking part in the negotiations".
Germany's chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said his country would never support a dictated peace. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Europe needs its own plan on Ukraine, or "other global players will decide about our future".
Source: Qatar Tribune