Zelenskyy: ‘The time has come’ for a European army

As the third anniversary of Russia's all-out invasion nears on Feb. 24, Zelenskyy said Europe needed to coalesce behind a single foreign and defense policy that would show America that the bloc is serious about its own security.

"Europe has everything it takes. Europe just needs to come together and start acting in a way that no one can say 'no' to Europe, boss it around, or treat it like a pushover," he said.

Despite steep battlefield losses, Russian President Vladimir Putin is adding 150,000 troops to his armed forces, larger than most European armies, Zelenskyy said, and is opening army recruitment offices each week. "Oil prices are still high enough for him to ignore the world," he said.

Ukraine's leader said his intelligence services "have clear intel that this summer Russia plans to send troops to Belarus under pretext of training exercises," adding that could be the start of operations against neighboring European countries.

However, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of NATO's military committee, said the alliance was unable to confirm Zelenskyy's warning about Belarus.

"I believe that Western intelligence agencies are perfectly active in this so I would expect confirmations," he said.