NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the 62nd Munich Security Conference, 14 February 2026. Photo: EPA / RONALD WITTEK
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday, reminding delegates that his country required continuing support from its Western allies to defend itself against Russian forces after almost four full years of full-scale war.
Zelensky paid tribute to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while also thanking the US and Europe for their ongoing support, and telling the conference that Ukraine was ready to make a peace deal, and was awarded a standing ovation from the audience.
In a discussion panel led by veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte described Russia’s gains on the battlefield as “almost irrelevant”, while reiterating the importance of continued Western support for Kyiv.
Zelensky said that while Ukraine was willing to make concessions, there was no such readiness on Russia’s part, and stressed that Kyiv could not simply give up the areas of its eastern Donetsk region still under its control, something Moscow has made a precondition to any peace deal.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also addressed the conference on Saturday, struck a less combative tone than US Vice President JD Vance did when he spoke at conference last year. Saying that the US would always be a “child of Europe”, Rubio spoke of “charting a path for a new century of prosperity” and described Europe as America’s “cherished allies and oldest friends”, Reuters reported.
In remarks to the press after delivering his speech, Rubio expressed doubts that Moscow would ever be able to achieve its initial objectives in the war, noting that Russia was currently losing 7,000 to 8,000 soldiers a week, though he also stressed that the US would not abandon its commitment to ending the war.
