Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of an artificial intelligence-driven war in a stark address to the U.N. General Assembly. He said the world faces a growing arms race that now includes AI. According to NPR, his remarks came during the 80th session in New York.
AI on the battlefield
Zelenskyy said drones will soon fight drones and strike critical infrastructure. He said they will target people on their own with no human involved, except the few who control AI systems. He called the current period the most destructive arms race in human history.
He argued that Ukraine is only the first. He said Russian drones are already flying across Europe and operations are spreading across countries. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to expand the war.
U.S. stance and NATO tensions
His speech followed recent Russian drone incursions into NATO’s eastern member states. Those incidents raised fears of a regional spillover from Russia’s 3 1/2-year-old, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He spoke as alarm in Europe grew over those crossings.
The address also came a day after President Trump shifted his position on the conflict. He wrote on his Truth Social platform that Ukraine, with support from the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form. NPR reported that this reverses an earlier stance that Kyiv would need to give up some territory to Moscow, including Crimea.
Trump meets Zelenskyy at UN
Trump met with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the General Assembly. During the meeting, a reporter asked if NATO members should shoot down Russian aircraft that violate their airspace. The U.S. president replied, Yes, I do.
Zelenskyy’s warning tied the war’s next phase to rapid tech change. He urged attention to the risks of autonomous systems in conflict. He suggested that a few controllers of AI could shape the battlefield.
NPR said the story is developing and may be updated. The session highlighted both the rise of AI in war and a shift in U.S. rhetoric. It also underscored fears that the conflict could spread further into Europe.
