Europe needs an Israeli-style Iron Dome missile defence system to repel threats from Russia and others, Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said.
In an address to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Mr Zelenskiy said Russia could field more than a million soldiers.
“So, this isn’t a situation where one country can repell Russia alone,” he said, while warning Europe needed to beef up its collective security.
That must include a united European security and defence policy, he said. And if that costs 5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, “so be it,” he said.
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Speaking on the first full day of the new Trump presidency, Mr Zelenskiy urged Europe to stand up for itself and not to look always to the US.
“Most of the world is now thinking: what is going to happen to our relationship with America, what will happen to alliances, to trade? How does president Trump want to end war? ... But no one is asking these kind of questions about Europe,” he said.
[ EU will be ‘pragmatic’ in dealings with Trump, commission president tells DavosOpens in new window ]
“In times of war, everyone worries will the US to stay with them ... but does anyone in the US worry that Europe might abandon them one day or might stop being their ally? The answer is no,” he said.
“Will president Trump even notice Europe? Does he see Nato (North Atlantic treaty Organisation) as necessary, and will he respect EU (European Union) institutions?,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
In a clear reference to tech billionaire Elon Musk, German chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier said he did not support freedom of speech for extreme-right positions.
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Mr Musk has, in recent weeks, used his X platform to support Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in advance of next month’s German election.
“We have the freedom of speech in Europe and in Germany. Everyone can say what he wants, even if he is a billionaire,” Mr Scholz said.
“What we do not accept is if this is supporting extreme-right positions,” he told delegates.
Mr Scholz was responding to a question about Mr Musk, who appeared to make fascist-like salutes during celebrations after Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president.
The German leader said his administration had had good first talks to the new US administration while noting “cool heads” were needed in a world that “seems to teeter on the brink of a nervous breakdown”.
Not every tweet should trigger a debate, he said.
Taking a break from Germany’s election campaign to attend Davos, Mr Scholz said co-operation between Europe and the US was essential for peace and security worldwide as well as economic progress but that Europe needed to become more self-reliant.
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