Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to expand the war beyond Ukraine by launching an attack on another European country.
Speaking in Kyiv after his meeting with Donald Trump at the United Nations in New York, Zelensky accused Moscow of carrying out recent drone strikes as a way to test NATO’s defenses.
“Putin will not wait to finish his war in Ukraine. He will open another front. No one knows where, but he wants this,” Zelensky told reporters.
The Ukrainian leader emphasized that Russia is deliberately probing Europe’s ability to protect its skies. Drones have recently been sighted over Denmark, Poland, Romania, and Russian fighter jets were reported to have violated Estonia’s airspace.
Over the weekend, drones were also spotted above a Danish military base on Friday night and a Norwegian base on Saturday. Earlier this month, 92 drones flew in a coordinated pattern toward Poland; while most were intercepted, 19 crossed into Polish territory, and Polish forces shot down four of them.
Zelensky said EU governments are struggling to respond to this new and dangerous threat.
The warning comes after what Zelensky described as “very pleasant” talks with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Following their meeting, Trump declared that Ukraine could regain all territory lost since 2022 with the backing of Europe and NATO. He also described Russia’s economy as being in serious trouble and labeled its military a “paper tiger.”
When asked about Trump’s apparent shift to a warmer tone toward Ukraine, Zelensky explained that he had updated him on the realities of the battlefield, noting that Russia’s advances were often temporary.
“It is not success. It is only a temporary presence,” Zelensky said, adding that the U.S. president now had greater “confidence” in Ukraine and understood Russia’s disrespectful approach toward the West.
Zelensky declined to comment on reports that he had requested U.S. Tomahawk missiles capable of striking Moscow, calling it “a sensitive issue.”
