The Munich safety Conference has been in crisis mode from the very beginning. After a long telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin among the conference participants, concerns arose that the president of the United States can force Ukraine to make peace under the dictatorship of RussiaWhich would not be in the interests of the Ukrainians or Europe.
Given Trump's well-known aversion to the EU and NATO, Europeans are more aware of their own defencelessness than always if America under Trump no longer takes its promise of protecting Europe seriously. W These concerns have not been resolved in Munich.
US Vice president J.D. Vance besides challenged the transatlantic community of values and accused Europeans of abandoning freedom of speech, ignoring the will of people on migration — and called for the demolition of the "fire odor" against the far right AfD. The full case turned into an open exchange of blows, erstwhile both the German Minister of Defence and the German Chancellor responded to these accusations. The opposition leader and chief candidate for the CDU/CSU Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, besides disagreed with the American narrative.
An emergency signal for Europe
— I think the only good thing is that we now have clarity,” says Italian abroad policy expert Natalie Tocci. “There is no point in trying to establish a working relation with the Trump administration. Better just Let's do our occupation and presume we're on our own. – adds.
It took 3 years of war in Europe and the election of a Eurosceptic president in the US to make European politicians realise the actual historical gravity of the minute erstwhile the continent was located. In the days leading up to the Munich conference, Trump made Europe aware, what it means to be treated as a meaningless “addition” to history.
Trump's approach to Putin was neither agreed nor coordinated with Europeans. Suddenly, it does not seem only theoretically possible that Moscow could appear stronger from the war in Ukraine — and Europe could abruptly find itself and become another victim of Russian expansion plans. — If we don't hear an emergency signal now, it may be besides late for the EU. “ Friedrich Merz said. “We request a fresh sense of urgency,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. “We are not at war, but we are no longer at peace,” she added.
THOMAS KENZLE/AFP / AFPUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenski is greeted with standing ovations as he arrives on phase to give a speech at the 61st Munich safety Conference, February 15, 2025.
The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski in a fiery speech summed up the seriousness of the situation not only for his country, but besides for Europe. “We cannot agree to ceasefire without safety guarantees,” he called for in consequence to American attempts to end the war. Otherwise, the ceasefire will, in his opinion, only be an chance for Russia to re-attack with fresh forces. Zelenski besides said there could be no agreement between US president Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin above the heads of Ukraine and Europe.
Zelenski besides announced that he would not quit his efforts to join NATO. He added that if Kiev did not receive specified protection, he would gotta get safety guarantees in return, leading to the creation of a kind of NATO mini-mini in Ukraine. It would be that Europeans and Americans would aid defend the ceasefire line and Ukraine border with Russia with their own armed forces.
Zelenski's speech was more than just a confirmation of the Ukrainian position on negotiations. It was a moving and informing call for Europe to realise the danger of the situation. At the hazard that the US can work towards an adverse peace agreement that will harm the interests of Ukraine and Europe. And that in The future will gotta defend itself against Russia without American aid.
Europe may be the next mark of the Kremlin
“ Moscow plans to make 15 fresh divisions of 150,000 soldiers,” said Zelenski. According to information from the Ukrainian peculiar Services, Russia intends to deploy troops in Belarus in the summer, which Putin now considers to be a Russian "province". These troops can be utilized to fight Ukraine "or they can be utilized to attack you, due to the fact that Belarus borders the 3 NATO states," said Zelenski. To the Europeans gathered, in particular, he had 1 question: If Russia attacks your country, will your armies be ready for that??
If Russia's war with Ukraine had come to an end, Russia would have "a surplus of soldiers trained in combat who know nothing but killing and looting." Russia in its present state, however, needs war to strengthen the regime's power. Zelenski's message was clear: Europe may be the next mark of the Kremlin.
Zelenski made a fervent appeal for the unity of Europe and called on the continent to make its own armed forces, not to replace NATO, but to strengthen the European base. He besides called for preparations for the possible departure of the US as a safety guarantor in Europe.
“I beg you to act for your own good”
Zelenski called on Europe to prepare for the possible request to guarantee its own safety by expanding defence and arms spending. — I beg you to act for your own good. said Zelenski.
Ukrainian president was the first individual at a Munich conference to describe the threats to Europeans so mercilessly," commented German safety expert Nico Lange. — Russia will arm itself and deploy fresh troops to endanger European states outside Ukraine in the long term. Ukraine, with its fighting army and defence industry, would be an crucial asset for Europe in this conflict. For example, the Danish Prime Minister pointed out that ammunition production was transferred to Ukraine a year ago, as Europe was slow expanding its production capacity. Ukraine presently produces more than the remainder of the EU.
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT / PAPUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenski during a gathering with U.S. Vice president J.D. Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich, Germany, 14 February 2025.
Zelenski met with Vice president Vance on Friday, as well as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukraine's peculiar envoy Keith Kellogg. It seems that both sides are inactive far apart erstwhile it comes to the peace plan. The U.S. government seems to realize that this is going to be a lengthy process. Subsequent talks are to be held "in the coming days, weeks and months". “We want the killing to stop, but we want a lasting, balanced peace, not 1 that will lead to another conflict in east Europe in the coming years,” Vance said.
"Americans have no plan"
This is far from the words Trump utilized after a telephone conversation with Putin, saying that peace talks will begin “immediately”. Since then, respective representatives of the Trump administration have given a number of different and even contradictory opinions on what America is aiming for. There was besides an impression in Munich that The Americans don't have a war ending plan yet and they're considering different options..
The emergence of a multipolar planet order was the overarching subject of the conference. Europeans seem increasingly to realize that can no longer trust on the US andmust become an independent pole of power in this fresh world, even to defend themselves against imperialist Russia. There was widespread agreement in Munich that it besides included military reinforcement of Europe and that military spending of 2% of GDP agreed so far by NATO was far insufficient to prepare Europe for defence.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that erstwhile he presented this thought 2 months ago, he inactive faced many obstacles. But that's changed always since. Both German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen talked about the request to increase defence spending above 2%. They both suggested softening the criteria of the EU stableness Pact to enable debt-funded military spending. “I will propose launching a safeguard clause for investment in defence,” said von der Leyen, comparing the current situation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then specified a clause was activated to let higher government spending.
If Europe decides to do so, it will confirm the communicative from the Munich safety Conference — that it stands in the face of a safety crisis of historical size and must take extraordinary steps to guarantee peace and freedom on the continent.
