Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. [Photo Credit: Reuters]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged world powers to help stop Russia’s war in his country in a speech to the United Nations on Wednesday, warning of a dangerous arms race that he said the fighting was unleashing.

He called for global rules to curb the use of artificial intelligence in weapons while describing breakneck innovation in drones used in Ukraine. He also accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of seeking to expand his war beyond Ukraine.

His comments came a day after he met U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations, where Trump appeared to take a much tougher stance toward the Kremlin.

Trump said on Tuesday that Kyiv could retake all its occupied land from Russia in what would be an extraordinary battlefield reversal. He also endorsed the idea of shooting down Russian fighter jets that violate NATO airspace.

Zelenskiy said the advent of artificial intelligence meant the arms race under way was the “most destructive” in human history and voiced disappointment in what he said was the weakness of international law and cooperation.

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

Western support has been vital for Kyiv, but the future of that assistance has been uncertain as Trump has declined to impose powerful sanctions on Russia or provide fresh military assistance beyond selling arms.

Trump has talked up the need for Europe to take on more of the burden of supporting Kyiv and, despite his sudden shift in language this week, there is no sign for now that the U.S. president has stepped up actual support.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York on Wednesday for talks that lasted around 50 minutes.

Separately, Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Trump was growing “incredibly impatient” with Russia because they were not “putting enough on the table to end the war.”

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