Zelensky in Munich:
Europe Needs to Adjust’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Munich Security Conference in Munich on Feb. 15.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
With attendees still processing the wavesmade by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s Friday speech, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Saturday handed the mic back to the man who has been the toast of this town for three years running. Just days before the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took the stage to a standing ovation that lasted almost a full minute and made him visibly emotional.
As conversations continue to swirl in the Trump era of trans-Atlantic relations over who is actually setting the agenda, Zelensky argued that it was actually Russia that is being allowed to do so: “This year, the country that was not even invited still made its presence known, a country that everyone talks about here—not in a good way.” He mentioned Russia’s strike on the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on the eve of the MSC, adding that “a country that launches such attacks does not want peace, is not preparing for dialogue.”
His statements hit on the two biggest talking points during the conference since U.S. President Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the week to “start negotiations immediately” on a deal to end the conflict: what such a deal will look like and who will get a seat at the table as it’s worked out.
Zelensky brought up migration—an issue Vance spent much of his speech on—albeit in a different context, mentioning Russia’s alleged role in sending migrants across the border of Russian ally Belarus into NATO members Poland and Lithuania. “What if next time it’s not migrants? What if it’s Russian troops or North Korean troops?” he said.
He followed that more oblique reference by calling out Vance (and Europe) directly: “Yesterday here in Munich, the U.S. vice president made it clear: Decades of the old relationship between Europe and America are ending. From now on, things will be different, and Europe needs to adjust to that,” he said. “I believe in Europe, and I’m sure you believe, too. And I urge you to act for your own sake.”
The solution, Zelensky said, is establishing a dedicated military force for the entire continent of Europe. “This is not just about increasing defense spending as a GDP ratio,” he said, mentioning another of the conference’s pet discussion topics. “It’s about people realizing they need to defend their own home. … Three years of full-scale war have proven that we already have the foundation for a united European military force.”
“The most influential member of NATO.” The Ukrainian president also addressed a statement that another Trump official, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, made this week in Brussels that “the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.” (Hegseth later partially walked back those comments, saying nothing was off the table.) “I also will not take NATO membership for Ukraine off the table,” Zelensky said. He then threw a pointed barb at the alliance itself: “Right now, the most influential member of NATO seems to be Putin,” he said, “because his whims have the power to block NATO decisions.”
Other European officials whom SitRep spoke to say NATO membership for Ukraine should always be an option, even if it doesn’t appear in the cards immediately. “It took around 10 years for Estonia to become a member of NATO; it took decades for Sweden. So we will never exclude the possibility for Ukraine to be a member of NATO in one day,” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said. “Will it happen during the next four years? According to what Defense Secretary Hegseth said to us, probably not.”
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