{"id":13973,"date":"2023-02-19T10:55:07","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T08:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/?p=13973"},"modified":"2023-02-20T11:19:44","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T09:19:44","slug":"world-leaders-and-diplomats-gather-in-germany-for-munich-security-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/world-leaders-and-diplomats-gather-in-germany-for-munich-security-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"World leaders and diplomats gather in Germany for Munich Security Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The annual Munich Security Conference (MSC) began on February 17, 2023, with Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine as the top agenda. Leaders, diplomats, and representatives from 96 different countries world came to participate in the three-day event that would conclude on February 19.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opened the conference with their respective talks. Zelenskyy spoke through a prerecorded message at the start of the conference as he urged the western allies to speed up sending weapons to defeat the Russian invasion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ukrainian president told the global leaders assembled in Munich that dithering and delays in providing weapons to Ukraine also threaten their security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy linked Ukraine\u2019s battle against Russia to the biblical fight between David and Goliath and said that while Ukraine had David’s courage, it still needed the sling with which to defeat “the Russian Goliath.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy\u2019s message found immediate support from the following speakers, especially the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and French President Emmanuel Macron. Both leaders pledged their commitments to military support for Ukraine and reaffirmed that long-term backing for Kyiv’s cause was the only way to get Moscow to back down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Putin’s “revisionism” would not prevail and called on allies who were able to do so, to send battle tanks to Ukraine. “Those who can send such battle tanks should really do so now,” Scholz said during his speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Leaders of France, Poland, and Germany during the Munich Security Conference 2023. (Image Credit: Twitter\/@Bundeskanzler)<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Germany pledged to provide Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine while also approving exports from third-party stocks. While rallying further support for Ukrainian forces, Scholz predicted that there is no short-term solution for the ongoing war. “I think it’s wise to prepare for a long war,” Scholz told the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French President Emmanuel Macron took the podium after the German leader and said there needed to be readiness for “prolonged conflict” in Ukraine while calling on EU members to invest substantially in defense spending. “We absolutely need to intensify our support and our effort to the resistance of the Ukrainian people and its army and help them to launch a counter-offensive which alone can allow credible negotiations, determined by Ukraine, its authorities and its people”, Macron said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I don’t believe a second in regime change,” says French President @EmmanuelMacron<\/a> at #MSC2023<\/a>. “We have to find a way to force #Russia<\/a> to come back to the table under the conditions of Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com\/5bcrlZnSKd<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Munich Security Conference (@MunSecConf) February 17, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>