The Ukrainian President asks for support.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin For a day and a half, the country was the number one topic of conversation at the Munich Security Conference (MSC). Then Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as the democratically elected President of Ukraine, was finally allowed to comment on the imminent danger of war for his country. And the 44-year-old used his appearance on the world stage to harshly criticize the West’s hesitant deterrence.
“Why isn’t the list of possible sanctions published now?” Zelenskyy asked. It is incomprehensible that, on the one hand, many said that the war was certain, but the reaction to it remained unclear. “What are we waiting for?” the Ukrainian asked the politicians from Europe and the USA who were present.
Olaf Scholz should also have felt addressed. The German Chancellor has so far always refused to give concrete information on possible sanctions, such as stopping the controversial Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline. You know what to do is his standard answer. Zelenskyy, on the other hand, demanded more clarity and determination from his partners.
The Ukrainian President tried not to deny the seriousness of the situation and at the same time to avoid panic. One cannot predict the imminent outbreak of war every day and carry on living normally.
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No economy can function under this threat. Otherwise, people would panic and get their money from the bank. In this context, he also criticized the fact that the West’s financial aid for his country was linked to many demands for reform. No country in the world could repel an invasion and carry out extensive economic reforms at the same time.
“Europe needs a new security architecture”
The head of government rejected Russia’s accusations that Ukraine was violating the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine agreed in the Minsk agreement. “These are lies,” said Zelenskyj. His government is ready to implement the Minsk Agreement and will do everything to keep the peace. Skirmishes between Ukrainian separatists and government troops have been going on in Donbass for days. Selenskyj reported new fatalities and spoke of deliberate provocations.
Beyond the current support, the Ukrainian called for a new security architecture for Europe. “After all the lessons of the 20th century, how is it that we are at this point (of a war) again?” he asked. The West cannot forever avoid the question of its country’s membership in NATO and the EU. Open doors are good, but Ukraine also needs open answers.
His country has renounced nuclear weapons and has already lost parts of its territory through the annexation of Crimea. He hopes that NATO’s obligation to provide assistance will be more effective than the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, through which Ukraine was also guaranteed political sovereignty by Russia. “The Budapest Memorandum failed, we need security guarantees,” the President demanded.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned that accommodating some of Russia’s demands would not improve security in Europe. “We have to wake up from this geopolitical sleep of the last decades.” NATO must offer a strong and united response to the Russian threats.
More: “Ukraine Should Be a Bridge”: The China Factor in the Russia Crisis