Gen Zarzhiny, dressed in civilian clothes, did not say what weapons would be needed but said further development was necessary to ensure Ukraine did not lose the war.
“Evil is here and it’s come to kill people,” the president said in his first public comments since arriving in London.
“In the last century alone, more than 60 million people died in two conflicts, World War I and World War II, separated by just 20 years.”
“Is humanity ready to accept another war with suffering on this scale? World War III?” he asked.
“Free and democratic nations and their governments need to wake up and think about how to protect their people and their nations.”
“The desire to survive on the battlefield is the main reason for seeking improved weapons,” he added.
“For a variety of reasons, neither Ukraine nor Russia will be able to master these technologies on their own.
“But whoever conquers it will decide the world’s security challenges.”
“It is up to us to decide whether the democratic world or the autocratic world will master these technologies faster.”
General Zaluzhny warned that such a breakthrough could only be achieved by combining Ukrainian experience with Western resources, saying “time is no longer on our side.”
He had previously called for an emphasis on weapons development, predicting in an article he wrote for The Economist before leaving the military that only new technology would enable either side to make a decisive breakthrough on the battlefield.
The rise of drones
In particular, the spread of drones has changed the nature of the war in Ukraine, making the battlefield transparent and making it difficult to concentrate forces in traditional ways.
General Zarzhny was the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces at the time of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
He was credited with leading the successful defense of Kiev and the stunning counteroffensive that autumn that drove the Russians from Kharkov and Kherson.
But he described the war as a “stalemate” following the failure of a 2023 counteroffensive, sparking a spat with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Until his dismissal in February this year, there was widespread speculation that he had political ambitions in Kiev.