Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he also said that Ukraine would "never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement" after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to start peace talks. In a speech on Friday, in which he attacked European democracies, US Vice President JD Vance warned that Europe needed to "step up in a big way" on defence. Zelensky said: "I really believe the time has come - the armed forces of Europe must be created." He said: "Yesterday here in Munich, the US vice president made it clear [that] decades of the old relationship between Europe and America are ending. "From now on things will be different and Europe needs to adjust to that."

This week, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was a "factory reset" for Nato which signalled the alliance needed to be "robust", "strong" and "real". On Saturday, Zelensky said: "Let's be honest. Now we can't rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on an issue that threatens it.