The world is in “the most destructive arms race in history”, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Wednesday. He urged global leaders attending the opening session of the 80th annual U.N. General Assembly that, given Vladimir Putin’s eagerness to expand his war into Europe, now is the time to act against Russia.
Zelenskyy pointedly cited how weak international institutions, including the United Nations, had been unable to stop wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere, and observed that international law was incapable of helping ensure that nations survive.
“Weapons decide who survives,” the Ukrainian leader said. “There are no security guarantees except friends and weapons.” He was speaking a day after he met with U.S. President Donald Trump, who expressed support for Ukraine’s efforts and was critical of Russia.
On Tuesday, in a surprising switch from previous pronouncements, Trump had said he believed Ukraine could win back all the territory lost to Russia. Previously, the U.S. leader had repeatedly called on Kyiv to make concessions in order to end the war triggered by President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour.
Zelenskyy did say he had held “a good meeting” with Trump and with many other “strong leaders.” “Together, we can change a lot,” he noted, expressing Ukraine’s appreciation for U.S. and European support and urging all U.N. member nations to condemn Russia while it “keeps dragging this war on.” Unless he is stopped now, the Ukrainian president warned, Putin will keep driving the war forward, “wider and deeper.”
“Ukraine is only the first, and now Russian drones are already flying across Europe, and Russian operations are already spreading across countries,” he said.
Zelenskyy spoke of how neighbouring Moldova is again defending itself from Russian interference and insisted it should not be allowed to move toward dependency on Russia, as Georgia and Belarus had been. “Europe cannot afford to lose Moldova, too,” he said, stressing that the country needs funding and energy support, not just “political gestures.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Zelenskyy said, weapons and especially drones “are evolving faster than our ability to defend ourselves.” Once used solely by major countries, now “there are tens of thousands of people who know how to professionally kill using drones.”
European airports had been forced to shut down because of drones, Zelenskyy noted. Just last week, North Korea announced testing “a tactical drone”, proof that even countries with limited resources can build dangerous weapons.
“We are now living through the most destructive arms race in human history, because this time it includes artificial intelligence,” he said. Work is underway “on drones that can shoot down other drones”, making it only a matter of time – and not much at that – “before drones are fighting drones, attacking critical infrastructure and attacking people all by themselves – fully autonomous and no human involved except the few who control AI system.”
Zelenskyy reiterated the call by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres for global rules on how AI can be used in weapons, stressing that “this is just as urgent as preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.”
Stopping Putin now is cheaper than trying to protect every port and airport and every ship from drone attacks and having to build underground schools and health centres as Ukraine has been forced to do to protect its citizens, he said. “Stopping Russia now is cheaper than wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead.”
The Ukrainian leader said his country doesn’t have the kind of “big fat missiles dictators love to show off in parades” but it is producing drones capable of flying two-to-three thousand kilometres and these have been used against Russia.
Ukraine is building a new security architecture, with a coalition of more than 30 countries, he added. “We have decided to open up for arms exports – and these are powerful systems tested in a real war, when every international institution.
