Uncertainty about what to do next dominated Munich Security Conference, says director of Interfax-Ukraine News
The mood at the Munich Security Conference was one of “misunderstanding” rather than “pessimism,” the Director of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency Oleksandr Martynenko told Radio NV on Feb. 21.
Read also: Munich Security Conference leader calls for revisiting Minsk Protocol to end war in Ukraine
"The conference participants were looking for mutual understanding on how to move forward,” he said.
"How to live after the US elections and with Putin in power. Because it can happen (they all understand) that from November they will already have two points of tension. Not just one, as it is now, with Russia, but between Russia and the United States. And how to live in a world where you have one enemy in the east and another across the ocean. Many people see Trump as an enemy of the European project. And somewhere else there is Xi Jinping, who is not a friend and comrade, to put it mildly."
Martynenko clarified that many of the conference participants do not understand how to increase defense spending and convince people that it is necessary to fire missiles instead of raising pensions.
Read also: Zelenskyy warns Russia’s potential to escalate local conflicts into global catastrophes
The Ukrainian delegation "left with questions about what will happen next, because there are no complete answers.”
The only "person who has a plan" at the conference was Czech President Petr Pavel, who "talked about the 800,000 shells he found, and now he needs money."
“Everyone else, as far as I can tell, doesn't know what they are doing and what to do next. Including, by the way, the American delegation, it seemed to me. In general, I can't report anything optimistic, bright and joyful after this conference."
Earlier, Politico wrote that Ukraine’s worsening prospects on the battlefield and questions about America’s commitment to Kyiv had dominated the annual event in the Bavarian capital
The longer Russia’s aggression against the world order continues, the greater the changes and threats it provokes to other countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 17.
On Feb. 8, the chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen said that he hoped to end Russia's war against Ukraine through negotiations.
Read also: Zelenskyy discusses defense assistance with Czech counterpart at Munich Security Conference
According to Bloomberg, pessimism dominated Munich because of the delay in U.S. aid and a possible Russian attack on NATO.
The growing anxiety among European allies stems from the realization that now that Russia is emboldened by its battlefield successes, the United States may reduce its support for Europe - and the Europeans themselves "have done too little to prepare for that.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
