By Brian Freeman From Newsmax

World War III may have already started, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday regarding the Russian invasion of his country.

“Nobody knows whether [World War III]  may have already started,” Zelenskyy said. “And what is the possibility of this war if Ukraine will fall? It’s very hard to say.”

The Ukrainian president added that “we’ve seen this 80 years ago, when the Second World War had started … nobody would be able to predict when the full scale war would start,” emphasizing that the outcome of this current war has the “whole civilization at stake.”

Zelenskyy stressed in his virtural address to both chambers of Congress on Wednesday morning his plea for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine and urged more aggressive support from the United States, saying this is a “terror that Europe has not seen for 80 years,” NBC News reported

He said on Tuesday that the reluctance to impose the no-fly zone had led him to believe that there is no “open door” for his country to join NATO.

Ukraine’s desire to join NATO was one of the reasons Russian President Vladimir Putin has given to justify his invasion and a vow to stop seeking such membership is also one of his conditions for ending the war.

President Joe Biden has promised at least 2,600 Javelin anti-armor systems and more than 600 anti-aircraft systems as part of American military aid to Ukraine, but he has ruled out sending fighter jets.

Zelenskyy told Congress that receipt of the fighter jets could serve as an alternative to the declaration of a no-fly zone.

Almost three million people have fled the country since the invasion, with  Ukrainian authorities estimating that thousands have died in the Russian bombings on cities and residential areas, according to NBC News.

Last week, U.S. intelligence agencies estimated that between 2,000 and 4,000 Russian soldiers have been killed so far in the conflict.

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