Share and Follow
RUSSIA will turn its guns on Europe next if Ukraine falls, President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.
He told Western leaders to improve their military defences as the world can no longer rely on the US to bail them out.
And he called for the creation of a European Army to defend the continent’s borders against tyrant Vladimir Putin.
Mr Zelensky warned the Russian president “does not want peace” and is “not preparing for dialogue”.
It came as the US said the UK and Europe may not be invited to Ukraine war peace talks.
Mr Zelensky said: “I believe in Europe. I urge you to act for your own sake, for your nations, your houses, your children, for our shared future.
“We need confidence in our own strength so that other people respect European power. I believe the time has come to create an Armed Forces of Europe.”
He said all European nations must rearm and prepare for war.
Mr Zelensky added: “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.”
He revealed Ukraine had clear intelligence Russia plans, this year, to send troops to puppet state Belarus.
And he asked the Munich Security Conference: “Will this force attack Ukraine? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe they’ll attack you.
“And what about your armies — are they ready? How fast will they respond? And will they respond at all?”
He spoke out just days after US President Donald Trump called Putin to try to broker a peace deal in Ukraine.
Mr Trump wants the three-year war over so US taxpayers can stop subsidising defence budgets across Europe.
Officials are working on plans to shore up support for Kyiv if the US does cut military aid.
They want to unlock around £250billion of frozen Russian assets to help bankroll the war effort, although it has proven legally impossible before.
The UK is also considering buying more military kit from the US to link the war to Mr Trump’s America First strategy.
Details of the US peace plan are expected in the coming few weeks.
Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said it was not certain Europe would take part.
He admitted: “That may grate a little bit.”
The US has suggested UK and European troops man a demilitarised buffer zone in Ukraine.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated the UK’s position that there was an “irreversible pathway” for Ukraine to join Nato.
Some of the Trump team have ruled it out.
Mr Lammy said: “We know too that even when we get to a negotiated peace, Putin will not go away. So this is an existential question for Europe.
“We meet that question alongside the United States.”
He went on: “The best deal and security guarantee is binding US industry, business, defence capability into their future.
“That’s what will make Putin pay attention. That’s what’s attractive to a US president who knows how to get a good deal.”
US forces on the continent
By Thomas Godfrey
THE United States has 114,000 active-duty forces deployed to Europe — but has ruled out using them to help police Ukraine’s security.
More than a third are stationed in seven bases in Germany, while the UK has just over 10,000 at two RAF sites.
US Army systems are also used throughout Europe and any withdrawal could harm the ability of neighbouring countries’ forces to continue to work together.
Russia claims to have a standing army of three million, plus two million reservists.
