World leaders gather at the Munich Security Conference
Munich, February 13 (Hibya) - Dozens of world leaders and senior officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will flock to the grand and historic Bayerischer Hof hotel starting Friday. However, six European officials said they do not expect concrete outcomes from the meeting beyond statements of solidarity.
For the past three years, the annual Munich Security Conference has served as a venue for high-stakes negotiations related to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
According to two European officials and a senior U.S. official, the United States has made it clear to Ukraine that it will not finalize an agreement on security guarantees to protect Kyiv from future Russian aggression until Kyiv and Moscow reach an overall agreement to end the war.
A senior administration official said that President Donald Trump is not trying to use the agreement as leverage in negotiations with Zelensky.
Referring to the security guarantees, the official said, “He wants to solidify and finalize many things before actually signing. He does not want to just sign, and if such a situation prevents further peace talks, what is the point?”
According to another person familiar with the diplomatic discussions, the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are likely to meet again next week in Miami or Abu Dhabi, and U.S. officials believe progress could likely be achieved there.
Zelensky will use this weekend’s meeting to call for increased pressure on Russia and the formation of a united front with Europe.
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