Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyasked the allies on Friday to "accelerate" support for Ukraine, invaded by Russian troops for almost a year, in a video speech before the Munich Security Conference.
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“We need to speed up. Speed to conclude our agreements, speed of deliveries to reinforce our fight, speed of decisions to limit the Russian potential. There is no alternative to speed, because life depends on it”he claimed.
After a year of war, there are no signs that the fighting will end anytime soon and the chances of a diplomatic resolution to the conflict are slim to none.
Since the start of the offensive, the death toll has risen to tens of thousands and NATO fears a new Russian offensive.
In this context, Zelensky further estimated that “There is no alternative to Ukrainian victory” and denounced that the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, "try to buy time for his aggression."
“It is clear that Ukraine will not be his last stage. It will continue (its offensive) towards other states of the former Soviet bloc."he claimed.
The head of the German government, Olaf SchölzPresent at this annual three-day conference on international security issues, he assured Ukraine of Germany's support, financial, humanitarian and military, saying that Berlin and its allies will support the Ukrainians "as long as it takes."
“Ukrainians defend their freedom with great sacrifice and with absolutely impressive determination”he claimed.
The foreign minister asked Western countries to send tanks to kyiv "let them really do it now."
After being urged by all parties to deliver German-made Leopard 2 tanks, Angela Merkel's successor gave the go-ahead at the end of January.
But subsequent talks with NATO partners have not yet made it possible to complete a battalion of about 30 more modern Leopard 2A6 tanks.
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new sanctions
More than 150 government representatives will meet at this meeting.
Also attending will be the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi; US Vice President Kamala Harris; the head of US diplomacy, Anthony Blinken; and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who will step down at the end of this year.
“We need to be prepared for a long road. This can last many, many years."warned Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with AFP on Thursday in reference to the war in Ukraine.
The United States and its allies are preparing "a big new sanctions package" around February 24, Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state, said Thursday.
The drastic sanctions already in place against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine affect the highest levels of the Russian state, as well as its industry, banks and oil sector.
Tensions between the United States and China, exacerbated by the flight of a Chinese balloon on American soil, could also be discussed at the meeting.
China claims the balloon was for civilian use and retaliated by accusing the United States of flying balloons over its territory. The incident led Blinken to postpone his visit to China.
European countries, especially Germany and France, are still hoping to convince Moscow's ally China to pressure President Vladimir Putin to end the war.
In November, scholz He traveled to Beijing, where he met with President Xi Jinping. And France confirmed on Thursday that a visit by Emmanuel Macron to China "is being prepared" "in the first half of the year."
