If it takes 5% of GDP, it should be 5% – Zelenskyy on European defence

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that European states should not try to cut costs on their security and indirectly supported the call of new US President Donald Trump to increase NATO allies' defence spending to 5% of GDP.

Zelenskyy said in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Europe needs a unified security system and defence policy to be able to defend itself.

"All European countries must be willing to spend as much on security as it’s truly needed – not just as much as they have gotten used to during years of neglect. If it takes 5% of GDP to cover defence, then so be it 5%. And there is no need to play with people's emotions that defence should be compensated at the expense of medicine or pensions or something else. That’s really not fair," the Ukrainian president said.

He stressed that Russia "is not separated from European countries by an ocean" and it is necessary to understand who is on the other side of Moscow’s allyship with Iran and North Korea. Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine currently has the largest army, with more than 800,000 troops, followed by about 200,000 troops in France, and the rest of European countries have smaller forces, while Russia has potential access to 1.5 million soldiers.

Zelenskyy emphasised that no single country can defend itself alone and stressed the importance of unity to become a true force.

He noted that Ukraine already has formats of cooperation with partners that can help strengthen the whole of Europe.

"We are building drones together, including some totally unique ones that no one else in the world has. We are producing artillery together, and in Ukraine, it is much cheaper and faster than in any other country in the world. Investing now in Ukrainian drone production is investing not only in the security of Europe, but the ability of Europe to be a security guarantor for other vital regions," the president said.

Zelenskyy proposed to think about jointly developing air defence systems that could intercept all types of cruise and ballistic missiles.

"Europe needs its own version of the Iron Dome... We cannot rely on the goodwill from a few capitals when it comes to Europe’s security, and whether it’s Washington, Berlin, Paris, London, Rome, or – after Putin kicks the bucket – some imaginary democrat in Moscow someday," he said.

Zelenskyy's speech at Davos focused on the need for Europe to become stronger from a security and economic perspective in order to stand up for itself and be as important an ally to the United States as the United States is to Europe.

In her speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned of the risk of a "global race to the bottom" using economic instruments such as sanctions, export controls and tariffs.