Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his increasing calls to get the US Congress to approve an aid package, met US Vice President Kamala Harris and even invited former president Donald Trump and any other US lawmaker to the front lines.
"We are counting on this positive decision of the Congress," Zelensky said after meeting Harris on Saturday, the second day of the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of top political and defence officials to debate international security policy.
The aid package has been stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives as Trump does not want the house to provide US President Joe Biden with any victories ahead of the November election.
Zelensky, at a joint press conference with Harris, said that for Ukraine "this package is vital." His plea came as Ukraine's army said it has withdrawn from Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine after months of heavy fighting.
The Ukrainian leader stressed that his country is depending on further support from its most important ally and is deeply grateful for previous aid.
Zelensky declined to comment on the internal US political debates and upcoming presidential election, but did invite Trump or any other lawmaker to the front.
"If Mr Trump, if he will come, I am ready even to go with him to the front line," Zelensky said. "We have to demonstrate [to] people who are decision makers, what does it mean? The real war - not in Instagram, real war."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg more pointedly urged US Republican politicians to approve the military aid for Ukraine requested by Biden.
"Every week we wait means that there will be more people killed on the front line in Ukraine," Stoltenberg said. "So it's not for me to give advice on how to pass legislation to the US Congress. But what I can say is the vital and urgent need for the US to decide on a package for Ukraine."
After long delays, the Senate recently approved plans for new Ukraine aid worth around $60 billion. But approval in the second chamber is uncertain - especially since Speaker Mike Johnson has said he won't bring the bill to the floor.
Harris stressed that the United States remains firmly behind Ukraine and that Biden would continue fighting to deliver the needed aid to support the country in its battle against the ongoing Russian invasion.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticized fellow supporters of Ukraine for being too slow and hesitant to supply the embattled country with the weapons it needs.
She said Denmark will soon deliver F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine and is still seeking more partners to supply the advanced fighter plans.
"I think the only thing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin really respects in military force and our willingness to protect [ourselves]," she said, saying Europeans need to take more responsibility for their own defence and rely less on the US.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on EU partners to follow Berlin's example and ramp up aid for Ukraine, saying it is in member states' own security interests to do so.
For the current year, Germany has almost doubled its military aid to more than €7 billion ($7.5 billion), with commitments for the coming years totalling €6 billion, the German leader said.
The discussions came one day after Russian dissident Alexei Navalny died in a Russian prison camp. Many attendees at the conference and leaders elsewhere blamed Putin for his death.
Kiev's Mayor Vitali Klitschko told dpa on Saturday that the timing of the Navalny's death was not by chance.
"I don't think this is a coincidence," said Klitschko, a former professional boxer turned politician.
"This is a dictatorship," he said. Anyone there who disagrees with Putin is murdered or imprisoned, he added.
The news about Navalny broke a few hours before Harris' planned speech at the conference.
Given the current state of affairs, Germany's defence minister warned that European countries and the NATO alliance must prepare for a decades-long conflict with Russia.
Efforts to include Russia in a broader European security architecture after the Cold War failed, Boris Pistorius told the audience in Munich.
Western allies will stand firmly behind Ukraine "no matter how long Putin continues this illegal and senseless war against a sovereign, freedom-loving nation," Pistorius declared.
He said this means that Europeans "will have to live with dividing lines in Europe for decades to come," Pistorius said. "Free and democratic Europe on one side, authoritarian and warmongering Russia on the other."
The key to the conflict is re-establishing NATO's military power in Europe. "Effective deterrence is our life insurance," Pistorius said.
The alliance must invest more money in defence, rebuild the industrial capacity to produce munitions and prepare military forces to deploy and fight when necessary, he said.
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, meanwhile, once again called for a negotiated diplomatic end to the conflict in his speech at the conference. China, a Russian ally, has strenuously avoided taking a direct public position on the war.
