Mr. Zelensky: Europe cannot deal with Russia without the Ukrainian army

(Dan Tri) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Europe to take a stronger and tougher stance to support Kiev in dealing with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: Reuters).

President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that the possibility of ending hostilities or reaching a ceasefire in Ukraine depends on Europe's readiness to take a tougher stance towards Russia.

He also said that without the Ukrainian army, Europe at the present time would find it difficult to deal with Russia.

Speaking to Polish media during a visit to Warsaw on January 15, Mr. Zelensky was asked to comment on the possibility of ending the Russia-Ukraine war by 2025.

Mr. Zelensky said that he felt such a desire from US President-elect Donald Trump. He said that Russia has reservations about the US, China and a united Europe.

"Without the Ukrainian army, Europe cannot cope with the Russian army, because the Russian army is bigger. Russia has more weapons, more people and is more aggressive than the Europeans," Mr. Zelensky emphasized.

He also stressed that Europeans live in democracies and "don't know what war is".

"And without the Ukrainian army, Europe, unfortunately, today cannot deal with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin knows this and talks about it in his private meetings. Therefore, he will quickly go further if Ukraine cannot defend itself. That is a fact," Zelensky said.

Russia has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of attacking NATO countries, saying such a move would not bring any benefits to Moscow.

In the interview, Mr Zelensky called on the European Union to become “triple more pragmatic” and increase arms production – both for Ukraine and for itself – to “get ahead of Mr Putin”.

Earlier, Mr. Zelensky mentioned the possibility of ending hostilities with Russia by 2025. However, he stressed that for this to happen, Ukraine must receive reliable security guarantees to strengthen its negotiating position with Russia.

In another development, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the European Union is stronger than Russia and called on NATO member states to increase defense spending in the US-led military bloc to counter Moscow.

Mr Tusk made the remarks on January 15 at a joint press conference in Warsaw with Mr Zelensky.

NATO's defense spending is currently set at 2% of GDP, a target that many countries have struggled to meet. Poland is expected to spend 4.7% of its GDP on defense this year, the highest in NATO.

Last week, US President-elect Donald Trump suggested that NATO countries should start spending 5% of their GDP on defense. European members of the US-led military bloc continue to spend “a fraction” of what Washington spends on defense, despite being more affected by the current conflict between Moscow and Kiev, Trump argued.

Commenting on Mr Trump's call, Mr Tusk said that "the new US administration, once it sees that we are serious about this issue, will have a different approach, a more optimistic approach towards Ukraine".

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/ong-zelensky-chau-au-khong-the-doi-pho-nga-neu-thieu-quan-doi-ukraine-20250116094853882.htm