Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other world leaders gathered in Germany for the start of the Munich Security Conference, where the wars in his nation and in Gaza top a full agenda that includes democratic resilience, climate change, nuclear security, migration, and AI's future.
The three-day summit, focused on defense and diplomacy, opened on Friday, drawing around 50 heads of state or government, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, along with more than 100 other high-level government officials. Diplomats, military officers, and leaders of international organizations also were attending.
Zelenskyy said he's seeking "a new security architecture for Ukraine, as well as new opportunities. We are making every effort to end the war as soon as possible on fair Ukrainian terms and ensure a lasting peace."
Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine since two years ago isn't slowing down, however. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby warned Russia could take Ukraine's strategic town of Avdiivka, about 20 kilometers north of Russian-occupied Donetsk.
"Our task is to ensure support to Ukraine, this is in our security interest," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. "The situation is difficult due to the fact that the U.S. hasn't made a decision on aid. This impacted the situation on the battlefield. I expect the U.S. to keep supporting Ukraine."
The reported death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison drew scathing criticism from leaders. Just a day earlier, the 47-year-old was seen joking and smiling in court through a video link at a hearing to appeal one of his charges. “Russia has some very serious questions to answer,” Stoltenberg said of Navalny, who, as Putin's main political rival and founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation more than a decade ago, led street protests and called for change while severely criticizing the Russian president and his authoritarian government.
He gained notoriety after surviving a 2020 poison attack with the banned nerve agent Novichok while on a flight from Siberia to Moscow, reminiscent of the methods used to silence Kremlin opponents. In that attack, Navalny was hospitalized in a coma in Omsk before being airlifted to Berlin, where he eventually recovered. U.S. President Biden blamed Putin for Navalny’s death and described it as “proof of Putin’s brutality," while the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, which has previously raised serious concerns about Navalny's imprisonment, called for an independent investigation.
"We are appalled at the news that Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has died in prison," said OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell in Geneva. "If someone dies in the custody of the state, the presumption is that the state is responsible – a responsibility that can only be rebutted through an impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an independent body. We urge the Russian authorities to ensure such a credible investigation is carried out."
The Munich summit is focused on Europe's uncertain security and fighting in the Middle East, clouded by the threat of Russian aggression to the east and America's political turmoil during a presidential election year in which Biden appears to be headed for a rematch with his predecessor, Donald Trump.
At a recent campaign rally, Trump said if he regains the White House he would "encourage" Russia to attack any NATO member nation that might fall short of the military alliance's defense spending targets of 2% GDP. That would violate the 1948 North Atlantic Treaty, which defines an attack against one member of the military alliance as an attack against all.
Ahead of meetings with Scholz, Zelenskyy and other leaders, Harris sought to reassure the predominately European crowd that Americans will honor their commitments, but she also reminded American voters of Trump's hostility to global cooperation.
“I know there are questions here in Europe and around the world about the future of America’s role of global leadership,” she said. “These are questions the American people must also ask ourselves.” Harris said the Biden administration is committed to upholding international rules and norms and working with allies and partners on shared goals, but "some in the United States who disagree."
“If we stand by while an aggressor invades its neighbor with impunity, they will keep going – and in the case of Putin, that means all of Europe would be threatened," she said. Without directly referring to Trump, Harris described his worldview as "dangerous, destabilizing, and indeed short-sighted. That view would weaken America and would undermine global stability and undermine global prosperity.”
A bid for greater geographical diversity
Talks at Munich over the fraying international order, regional conflicts and other crises revolve around questions about Europe’s role in the world and its relations with key partners ranging from the United States to China. But the fault lines go beyond Ukraine, extending to African dissent among nations ruled by military leaders that seized power, and to regional unrest over Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, where nearly 2 million Palestinian civilians are trapped in an escalating humanitarian nightmare.
Human Rights Watch said 52 countries and three international organizations are expected to participate in the International Court of Justice’s oral hearings on Israel’s 57-year occupation of Palestinian territories starting next Monday, which would mark the highest level of participation in any case that has come before the U.N.'s top court since it began functioning in 1946. The proceedings stem from the U.N. General Assembly's Dec. 2022 request for the court's advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s policies and practices – 10 months before Hamas' surprise Oct. 7 attack killing 1,200 Israelis and taking another 250 hostage.
Organizers said the 60th Munich Security Conference is the most diverse yet, with a special emphasis on engaging the Global South. Its annual report emphasizes that nations are increasingly acting out of self-interest and protectionism, and are no longer focusing on the "absolute benefits" of global cooperation.
"Amid geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty, many countries are now distrustful of others and thus more sensitive to the distribution of gains and losses," it says. "In their economic and security relations, they increasingly begrudge their counterparts gaining an advantage, concerned with being the relative 'winner' – even at the expense of joint absolute gains."
U.N. chief António Guterres told the summit that today's global order is not working for everyone. "In fact, I would go further and say: it’s not working for anyone," he said. "Our world is facing existential challenges, but the global community is more fragmented and divided than at any time during the past 75 years. Even the Cold War era was, in some ways, less dangerous."
He cited nuclear security, the climate crisis and risks of uncontrolled artificial intelligence as existential threats that are not being met with an adequate response because, as power shifts among the major economies, the "transition to multipolarity without strong global institutions can create chaos."
"When power relations are vague, the dangers of aggressive opportunism and miscalculation grow. Today we see countries doing whatever they like, with no accountability," he said. "Impunity seems to be the name of the game and so we must all be determined to establish the primacy of the rule of law."
Guterres advised nations to fulfill their obligations under the United Nations Charter, which was signed in 1945 to maintain international peace and security and work for equal rights, self-determination and dignity for all. He also called on technology companies to be more responsible and to stop profiting from the amplification of toxic content.
"We need a new emphasis on social cohesion and the security of every individual, through a renewed social contract, based on justice and inclusion, and anchored in human rights," he said, adding that the global economy must work for everyone. "We need peace with justice."
This story has been updated with additional details.
