MUNICH – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday the time has come for the creation of an “armed forces of Europe” and says his country’s fight against Russia has proved that a foundation for it already exists.

The Ukrainian leader said Europe cannot rule out the possibility that “American might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it,” and noted that many leaders have long spoken about how Europe needs its own military.

“I really believe that time has come,” Zelenskyy told the Munich Security Conference. “The armed forces of Europe must be created.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

MUNICH (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday shot back strongly in defense of his stance against the far-right and said his country won’t accept people who “intervene in our democracy,” a day after U.S. Vice President JD Vance scolded European leaders over their approach to democracy.

The German leader spoke at the Munich Security Conference with just eight days before crucial elections in Germany, with polls showing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party — whose co-leader met with Vance on Friday — currently in second, ahead of Scholz’s own Social Democrats.

Even while lashing out at alleged U.S. meddling in Germany’s democracy, Scholz said he was “pleased” at what he called a shared commitment with the United States to the “preserving the sovereign independence of Ukraine,” and agreed with comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that Russia’s war in Ukraine must end.

But when it came to domestic politics, Scholz also alluded to Germany’s Nazi past, and said the longstanding commitment to “Never Again” — a return to the extreme right — was not reconcilable with support for AfD.

“We will not accept that people who look at Germany from the outside intervene in our democracy and our elections and in the democratic opinion-forming process in the interest of this party,” he said. “That’s just not done, certainly not amongst friends and allies. We resolutely reject this.”

“Where our democracy goes from here is for us to decide,” Scholz added.

A day earlier, Vance that he fears free speech is “in retreat” across the continent.

He said that many Americans saw in Europe “entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election.”

Scholz, shooting back, said “free speech in Europe means that you are not attacking others in ways that are against legislation and laws we have in our country.” He was alluding to rules in Germany that restrict hate speech.

The exchanges came as European leaders have been trying to make sense of a tough new line from Washington on issues including democracy and Ukraine’s future, as the Trump administration continues to upend transatlantic conventions that have been in place since after World War II.

Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in which he said the two leaders would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal to end the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Trump later assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he, too, would have a seat at the table.

The Ukrainian leader said Friday that his country wants security guarantees before any talks with Russia. Shortly before meeting with Vance in Munich, Zelenskyy said he will only agree to meet in-person with Putin after a common plan is negotiated with Trump.

After a 40-minute meeting with Zelenskyy, Vance said the Trump administration wants the war to end.

Beforehand, Vance lectured European officials on free speech and illegal migration on the continent, warning that they risk losing public support if they don’t quickly change course.

“The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia. It’s not China. It’s not any other external actor,” Vance said in a speech that drew a tepid response. “What I worry about is the threat from within — the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”

On the sidelines of the event, Vance met with Alice Weidel, co-leader of AfD.

Mainstream German parties say they won’t work with the party, a longstanding stance to shun the extreme right in a country scarred by Nazism.

Vance later headed back to Washington.

Among other speakers set to take the dais in Munich on Saturday were NATO chief Mark Rutte and foreign ministers from countries including Canada, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and from Syria’s new interim government.