Zelensky calls for European army as EU bristles at new US policies on Ukraine

The time has come for the creation of an “armed forces of Europe”, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, because the US may no longer be counted on to support Europe.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticised Americans for meddling in his country’s election, after US vice president JD Vance scolded European leaders over their approach to democracy and met the leader of a German far-right party.

Forceful speeches from Mr Zelensky and Mr Scholz on day two of the Munich Security Conference underlined the impact of a blizzard of decisions by US President Donald Trump that show a rapidly growing chasm in transatlantic ties.

European leaders are reeling after Mr Trump’s decision to upend years of US policy by holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Mr Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia on Saturday all but ruled out that Europeans will be included in any Ukraine peace talks.

Ramping up his desire for a more muscular and mighty Europe, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine’s three-year fight against Russia has proved that a foundation exists for the creation of a European army, an idea long discussed among some continental leaders.

“I really believe that time has come,” he said. “The armed forces of Europe must be created.”

Mr Zelensky also told The Associated Press in Munich that he “didn’t let” his ministers sign an agreement with the US on the extraction of minerals in the country, because “it is not ready to protect us, our interest”.

Mr Zelensky alluded to a phone conversation between Mr Trump and Mr Putin this week, after which Mr Trump said he and Mr Putin would probably meet soon to negotiate a peace deal over Ukraine, breaking the Biden administration’s harder line against Moscow over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Mr Trump later assured Mr Zelensky that he, too, would have a seat at the table to end the war. The Ukrainian leader said Europe should also have one.

“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement, and the same rule should apply to all of Europe,” Mr Zelensky said, adding that “not once did (Trump) mention that America needs Europe at the table”.

“That says a lot,” he said. “The old days are over when America supported Europe just because it always had.

“Now, as we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security, we must build the armed forces of Europe.”

Mr Zelensky said his idea was not about replacing Nato. “This is about making Europe’s contribution to our partnership equal to America’s,” he said.

It is unclear whether the idea will catch on with European leaders.

Mr Zelensky has sought greater military and economic support from the European Union for years and repeatedly warned that other parts of Europe could be vulnerable to Russia’s expansionist ambitions too.

While the bloc, and the US, has been one of Kyiv’s strongest backers, pockets of political disagreement in EU over its approach to Moscow and economic realities, including national debt levels that have squeezed defence spending, have stood in the way of greater support.

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, described the new US stance as a “moment of truth” that requires European leaders to overcome their differences and unite for a meaningful peace in Ukraine.

“This is an existential moment. It’s a moment where Europe has to stand up,” she said.

“There won’t be any lasting peace if it’s not a European-agreed peace.”

Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir, meanwhile, lamented a lack of clarity from Washington.

“People are still not sure what the US wants to do. And I think it would be good if we came out of this conference if they had a clear picture of it,” she said.

Earlier, Mr Scholz said he was “pleased” at what he called a shared commitment with the US aimed at “preserving the sovereign independence of Ukraine”, and agreed with Mr Trump that the Russia-Ukraine war must end.

But he also condemned the new political tack from Washington, affirming his strong stance against the far-right and said his country will not accept people who “intervene in our democracy”.

A day earlier, Mr Vance chastised Europe leaders at the conference and suggested that 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”.

Mr Vance said no democracy could survive telling millions of voters that their concerns “are invalid or unworthy of even being considered”.

He also met the co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is polling second ahead of Mr Scholz’s own Social Democrats ahead of February 23 elections.

Alluding to Germany’s Nazi past, Mr Scholz 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.”