Europe live: Russia in spotlight at Munich security conference

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on stage in Munich, warned that “if we do not act now, Putin will manage to make the next years catastrophic – catastrophic for other nations as well.”

He insisted Ukraine can win.

We can get our land back. And Putin can lose. And this has already happened more than once on the battlefield.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, has taken the stage at the Munich Security Conference.

“2024 must become a time for a full restoration of a rules-based world order,” he said.

Speaking to a room filled with world leaders, he said “there is no one for whom the ongoing war in Europe does not pose a threat.”

“This is Russia’s war against any rules at all,” he stressed. “But how long will the world let Russia be like this? This is the main question today.”

He added:

Perhaps people will have to live in a world where local wars will not remain local. Any outbreak of a war risks turning into a global catastrophe.

Perhaps the weaponisation of food or migration will break existing regional balances and undermine many political systems, not only in Europe but also in the Middle East, in Africa, in the Americas.

Perhaps, Europe is facing times when the question of invoking Article 5 of the Nato treaty will be not be a question for Washington at all, but rather for European capitals.

There are hundreds of such ‘perhaps’. On February 23, 2022, none of them existed. Now, they are a part of reality.

And what we lack in this reality: security. Neither for the largest nor for the smallest state.

We must make security a reality again.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference this morning, Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, opted to focus on the importance of supporting Ukraine and called for strengthening the European pillar of Nato.

“We therefore all have to ask ourselves, two years after the start of the war, are we actually doing enough to signal to Putin we are in for the long haul?” he said.

The chancellor added:

Are we doing enough, given that we know full well what Russia’s victory in Ukraine would mean, namely the end of Ukraine as a free, independent, democratic state, the destruction of our peaceful order in Europe, the gravest test of the UN charter since 1945, and not least, an encouragement to any and all autocrats around the world to use force to resolve conflicts.

The political and financial prices we would then have to pay be many times higher than all the expense of our support to Ukraine today and in the future.

The chancellor also said:

The threat from Russia is real. That is why our deterrence and defence capabilities have to be credible and remain credible.

At the same time, we don’t want a conflict between Russia and Nato, and for that reason all countries supporting Ukraine have been in agreement ever since the start of the war that we will not send our own troops to Ukraine.

However, Putin and the military establishment in Moscow must be left in no doubt that we, the world’s strongest military alliance, are able to defend every square meter of our allied territory.

And for that, it’s important that we further strengthen the European pillar in Nato, also in the sphere of deterrence.

Germany will invest 2% of GDP in defence, he stressed.

“Regardless of how Russia’s war in Ukraine ends, and regardless also of the outcome of elections on either side of the Atlantic, one thing is crystal clear: we Europeans need to do much more for our security now and in the future,” the chancellor said, adding that “our readiness to do so is considerable” and that he said this to the American president, Joe Biden.

He also thanked North American allies for being strong allies and friends.

Without naming Donald Trump, the German leader said:

Any relativisation of Nato’s mutual defence guarantee will only benefit those who, just like Putin, want to weaken us.

Asked about the reported death of Alexei Navalny, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said:

I’m really depressed having heard about the death of Navalny, though we don’t have every proof now, it seems to be the case that this really happened.

And I remember my talk to Navalny, when he was here in Berlin for, recovering from the first attempt to kill him. And I spoke with his wife and his little son… and I was really impressed by the courage he has, going back, knowing that this might be a very difficult time for him and also a situation that might cause his death, because of the way of dictatorship Putin developed.

Good morning and welcome back to another special edition of the live blog, coming to you from the Munich Security Conference.

It’s the second day of the conference, which brings together policymakers from across the globe for discussions on security.

In the spotlight today will be Russia’s war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East, as key figures from both regions will take the stage.