Zelensky proposes creating unified European Armed Forces: no steps toward this have been taken yet

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that European leaders have so far taken no steps toward his proposal to establish unified European Armed Forces, despite growing security threats from Russia.

He said this while answering journalists' questions, Ukrinform reports.

"Last year, at one of the international forums, I spoke about the need to create joint, unified European Armed Forces. The threat from Russia is obvious: by 2030 it plans to have an army of 2.5 million personnel. At the same time, each country must retain its own sovereign army, but Europe needs unified forces ready to respond quickly to challenges, numbering at least 3 million troops. I put forward this proposal to European leaders, but over the year, frankly speaking, not a single step toward this idea has been taken," Zelensky said.

He expressed hope that amid current challenges, European leaders would nevertheless reflect on the necessity of such a decision.

"This was our idea and our proposals – to have European Armed Forces. This does not mean competing with America. No. It simply means that Europe is a separate continent that must have its own strong army. This does not mean that NATO can or should be dismantled. By no means. This is separate – the European Armed Forces. Ukraine, without a doubt, can make one of the fundamental contributions to strengthening such an army if leaders support this idea. It is not only about an army that, in my view, should consist of no fewer than 3 million people, but also about technology exchange. We have wartime experience – we share our technologies with partners. They provide us with, for example, intelligence [intelligence data]; France provides intelligence, other countries do as well, and we provide our interceptors, what has been tested in wartime," he said.

Zelensky noted that without Ukraine's wartime experience, some countries would not even know how their weapons actually work. According to him, not all weapons perform well, but partners modify them, in particular thanks to Ukrainian engineers.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the parties in the peace negotiation process have not reached a dead end and that work on documents continues.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine