Ukraine issues a stark warning about a global arms race and AI war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned world leaders about the dangers of an artificial intelligence-driven war in a stark address to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.

“It’s only a matter of time, not much, before drones are fighting drones, attacking critical infrastructure and targeting people all by themselves, fully autonomous and no human involved, except the few who control AI systems,” Zelenskyy said.

“We are now living through the most destructive arms race in human history because this time, it includes artificial intelligence.”

His address came at a time of heightened alarm in Europe after recent Russian drone incursions into some of NATO’s eastern member states, which raised fears of a regional spillover from Russia’s 3 1/2-year-old, full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“Ukraine is only the first and now Russian drones are already flying across Europe, and Russian operations are already spreading across countries, and Putin wants to continue this war by expanding it,” Zelenskyy said.

The speech also came a day after President Trump made another shift in his position on the war in Ukraine.

“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

That’s a reversal from the position expressed previously by the Trump administration that Kyiv would need to give up some of its territory to Moscow — such as Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 — to end the war.

Trump met with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. Asked by a reporter during the meeting if Trump thinks NATO members should shoot down Russian aircraft that violates their airspace, the U.S. president responded: “Yes, I do.”

This is a developing story that may be updated.