MUNICH (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was scheduled to give the opening address on Friday at a major annual conference on international security policy.
About 40 heads of state, heads of government, politicians and security experts from about 100 countries, including the United States, Europe and China, were scheduled to attend the three-day Munich Security Conference in Germany, Zelensky joins via video link.
For the first time in 20 years, conference organizers did not invite Russian officials. Western powers have sought to diplomatically isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 2. February 24, 2022.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Russia’s war in Ukraine would cast a shadow on the matter. Western officials and analysts say the conflict is approaching a critical stage as it enters its second year next week.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was set to join the leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. at the Munich conference.
At the same conference last year, held just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine, Harris shared U.S. warnings that Russia was about to attack its neighbor and said, “Not since the end of the Cold War has this forum convened under such dire circumstances.”
In a speech scheduled for Saturday, the vice president will lay out what’s at stake in the war and why it matters, to bolster the case for maintaining U.S. support for Ukraine for as long as it takes, the White House said.
Ukraine is depending on Western weapons to thwart Putin’s ambition of securing control of large areas of the country, in what has become a test of governments’ resolve amid increasing financial costs.
Zelenskyy portrays Ukraine as defending Western values of freedom and democracy against tyranny and argues that his country needs to be properly provisioned to fend off Russia’s much bigger force. Western countries have sided with him, but at times they have been slow to meet his requests. Kiev, which has been promised tanks and ammunition by Western powers, now wants to bring in fighter jets, but some countries are refusing to do so.
Frans Timmermans, executive vice-president of the European Union Executive Committee, said the 27-member EU has so far come together on the issue.
“I think everyone understands how important it is for Ukraine to win this war,” Timmermans said. “This is also important for our Europe, because Putin is attacking not only Ukraine, but also us for not supporting our values.”
He said it was important to make it clear that Europe would support Ukraine no matter how long the war lasted. He added that in the coming weeks and months, he would try to put strong military pressure on Ukraine. Timmermans also expressed hope that China could pressure Russia to end the war.
