President Zelensky Asks The World To Help Stop Russia's War Or Face The Arms Race

President Zelensky at the General Debate of the 80th UN General Assembly. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged world powers to help stop Russia's war in his country in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly Debat on Wednesday, warning about a dangerous arms race that he said was triggered by the fighting.

He called for global rules to curb the use of artificial intelligence in weaponry while explaining the very rapid innovations in drones used in Ukraine.

President Zelensky also again accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to expand his war outside Ukraine.

"Stopping Russia is now cheaper than wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead," he told 193 members of the UN General Assembly.

His comments came a day after meeting with United States President Donald Trump at the United Nations, where President Trump appears to be taking a much tougher stance on the Kremlin.

President Trump said on Tuesday Kyiv could retake all of its occupied territory from Russia in what would be an extraordinary reversal of the battlefield.

In addition, President Trump also supports the idea of shooting down Russian fighter jets that violate the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) airspace.

President Zelensky said the emergence of artificial intelligence meant the ongoing arms race was "most destructive" in human history and voiced disappointment at what he called a weakness in law and international cooperation.

Ukraine has been caught in fighting for more than three and a half years, since Russia's full-scale invasion sparked the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

Western support is critical to Kyiv, but the future of the aid remains uncertain as Trump refuses to impose strong sanctions on Russia or provide new military assistance in addition to selling weapons.

President Trump has previously stressed the need for Europe to bear more burdens in supporting Kyiv and, despite the sudden change of language this week, there is no sign that the US President has stepped up real support.

As a sign of how Kyiv took advantage of his technology and experience from the war to strengthen fragile ties with its foreign partners, President Zelensky said Ukraine had decided to start exporting its weapons to allies.

President Zelensky said the modern era means having strong friends is very important, but, "If a country wants peace, it still has to develop weapons. It's disgusting but that's the truth."