Zelenskyy calls for European army as Germany hits back at US over Vance tirade

German chancellor hits back at US at security conference

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has shot back strongly in defence of his stance against the far-right and said his country will not accept people who “intervene in our democracy,” a day after US vice-president JD Vance scolded European leaders over their approach to democracy, reports the Associated Press (AP).

The German leader spoke with just eight days before crucial elections in Germany, with polls showing the far-right Alternative for Germany party currently in second.

Vance said on Friday at the Munich Security Conference that he fears free speech is “in retreat” across the continent.

“Germany is a very strong democracy, and as a strong democracy, we are absolutely clear that the extreme right should be out of political control and out of political decision making processes, and that there will be no cooperation with them,” Scholz said. “We really reject any idea of cooperation between parties, other parties and this extreme right parties.”

Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Photograph: Matthias Schräder/AP

A day earlier, Vance said that many Americans saw in Europe “entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election.”

Scholz, shooting back, said “free speech in Europe means that you are not attacking others in ways that are against legislation and laws we have in our country.” He was alluding to rules in Germany that restrict hate speech, reports the AP.

The comments came as European leaders have been trying to make sense of a tough new line from Washington on issues including democracy and Ukraine’s future, as the Trump administration continues to upend transatlantic conventions that have been in place since after the second world war.

Key events

China believes all stakeholders in the Russia-Ukraine conflict should participate in the peace talks, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Friday, underscoring Europe’s role in them after a flurry of US messaging on how to end the war.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Wang said “we hope that all parties and stakeholders directly involved participate in the peace talks in due course”.

“China views all efforts dedicated to peace positively, including any consensus reached by the United States and Russia on peace talks,” China’s foreign ministry readout quoted Wang as saying, reports Reuters.

As the war is taking place on European soil, it is all the more necessary for Europe to play its part for peace, to jointly address the root causes of the crisis, to find a balanced, effective and sustainable security framework, and to achieve long-term peace and stability in Europe.”

Wang also told the European Union that China is ready to step up strategic communication with the bloc, enhance mutual understanding and jointly bring more stability to the world, according to remarks made to the EU policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Meeting on the sidelines of the conference, he emphasised to Kallas China’s position supporting Europe’s role in the peace talks, according to a statement from his ministry.

Europe needs its own plan for security and Ukraine, says Poland’s Tusk

Europe needs its own plan for Ukraine and for its own security or its future will be decided by other powers, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday, according to Reuters.

“Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security, or else other global players will decide about our future. Not necessarily in line with our own interest,” Tusk wrote on social media platform X.

“This plan must be prepared now. There’s no time to lose.”

‘No decisions’ on Ukraine without Kyiv and Europe, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday insisted that no decisions should be taken on ending Russia’s war without Kyiv and Europe as the United States pushes to open talks with Moscow.

“No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, no decisions about Europe without Europe. Europe must have a seat at the table,” Zelenskyy told the Munich Security Conference, reports Agence France-Presse.

Reuters adds that Zelenskyy told leaders at the conference that it would be “dangerous” for US president Donald Trump to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin before meeting him.

Russian troops have taken control of the settlement of Berezivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday, according to Reuters.

Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.

On Nato membership, Zelenskyy added that if Ukraine does not achieve Nato membership, then there should be conditions to build “another Nato in Ukraine”. He said that now the most influential Nato member seems to be Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian president added: “We cannot agree to a ceasefire without real security guarantees.”

Zelenskyy: Ukraine will never accept ‘deals reached behind our backs’

“We will never accept deals reached behind our backs, without our involvement,” Zelenskyy has told leaders at the Munich Security Conference.

The Ukrainian president said he would not take Nato membership for Ukraine off the table. “We need coordinated diplomacy … end of this war should be our ‘first shared success.”

Zelenskyy has told the Munich Security Conference that weapons should be fully produced in Europe. He adds: “Europe must decide its own future.”

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Saturday. Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

Zelenskyy: the time has come for a European army

Addressing the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the “time has come for a European army to be created”.

Zelenskyy said that North Korean troops fighting Ukraine are learning “modern warfare”.

“Our army alone is not enough, we need your support,” he said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now speaking at the Munich Security Conference. He has told the audience that Kyiv has clear intelligence that Russia plans to send troops to Belarus this summer, reports Reuters.

Zelenskyy has urged European leaders: “I urge you to act for your own sake.” He also asked “If Russia launches attack or false-flag operation, are your armies ready?”

Agence France-Presse has some more on Olaf Scholz’s comments today at the Munich Security Conference.

On Ukraine, the German chancellor said:

We will also not accept any solution that leads to a decoupling of European and American security. Only one person would benefit from this: President Putin.

We Europeans will represent these interests confidently and unitedly in the upcoming negotiations.”

Scholz spoke shortly before Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was to address the gathering of European leaders and policymakers in Germany.

Scholz said that to ensure Russia would not attack again if peace is reached, Kyiv’s backers “first of all” needed to build up Ukraine’s armed forces in the future.

“There will be a responsibility in the post war times for Europe and for the United States and for the international partners and friends of Ukraine to make this happen,” he said. “All the sort of security guarantees we give should be designed from this basis.”

German chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA

Ukraine peace only possible if ‘sovereignty secured’, says Scholz

German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday said that the war between Ukraine and Russia would only truly end with peace if Ukrainian sovereignty is secured.

“There will only be peace if Ukraine’s sovereignty is secured,” he told the Munich Security Conference. “A dictated peace will therefore never find our support.”

Olaf Scholz said that while Europe must build up its defence industry, Germany would also keep buying US-made military hardware.

The German chancellor called for a “strong European arms industry” but added that “we are not giving up the transatlantic integration of our defence industries. We will continue to buy new American military equipment in the future”.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday predicted that the future government would create an exemption for spending on defence and security when dealing with the nation’s constitutional limit on federal public debt, reports Reuters.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Scholz said he was sure that the country’s future leadership, to be determined at the 23 February election, would put these exemptions into place to loosen the so-called debt brake.

German chancellor hits back at US at security conference

The German leader spoke with just eight days before crucial elections in Germany, with polls showing the far-right Alternative for Germany party currently in second.

Vance said on Friday at the Munich Security Conference that he fears free speech is “in retreat” across the continent.

Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Photograph: Matthias Schräder/AP

The US vice-president and the Ukrainian president were locked in bilateral discussions at the Munich Security Conference on Friday as part of Donald Trump’s push for a negotiated peace agreement to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy referred to it as a “good conversation” and both spoke of more talks to come. You can see our video report on the story here:

JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have 'good conversation' about Ukraine war – video — JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have ‘good conversation’ about Ukraine war – video

Munich Security Conference: Saturday’s speakers

German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy are scheduled to speak on the second day of the Munich Security Conference.

Among other speakers to speak at the conference on Saturday are Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and foreign ministers from countries including Canada, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and from Syria’s new government.

JD Vance stuns Munich conference with blistering attack on Europe’s leaders

Patrick Wintour

The US vice-president, JD Vance, has launched a brutal ideological assault on Europe, accusing its leaders of suppressing free speech, failing to halt illegal migration and running in fear from voters’ true beliefs.

In a chastising speech on Friday that openly questioned whether current European values warranted defence by the US, he painted a picture of European politics infected by media censorship, cancelled elections and political correctness.

Arguing that the true threat to Europe stemmed not from external actors such as Russia or China, but Europe’s own internal retreat from some of its “most fundamental values”, he repeatedly questioned whether the US and Europe any longer had a shared agenda. “What I worry about is the threat from within,” Vance said.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the vice-president had been expected to address the critical question of the Ukraine war and security differences between Washington and Europe. Instead, he widely skated over these to give a lecture on what he claimed was the continent’s failure to listen to the populist concerns of voters.

Vance said of Donald Trump’s re-election: “There is a new sheriff in town.” He said: “Democracy will not survive if their people’s concerns are deemed invalid or even worse not worth being considered.”

The blistering and confrontational remarks were met with shock at the conference and were later condemned by the EU and Germany, while drawing praise from Russian state television. They signalled a deepening of the transatlantic chasm beyond different perceptions of Russia to an even deeper societal rupture about values and the nature of democracy.

The widow of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has warned there is “no point trying to negotiate” with Vladimir Putin. “Just remember: he will lie,” Yulia Navalnaya told the Munich Security Conference on Friday two days before the first anniversary of her husband’s death.

“He will betray,” she said about the Russian president. “He will change the rules at the last moment and force you to play his game. There are only two possible outcomes for any deal with Putin. If he remains in power, he will find a way to break the agreement. If he loses power, the agreement will become meaningless.”

Navalnaya was joined on a panel discussion by the exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who said “by helping Ukraine, you’re helping the whole region”. Tikhanovskaya warned if Ukraine did not come out on top after the war, “Putin will be still strong enough to keep his influence on Belarus”. “By putting Ukraine in a strong position during these negotiations, you put also Belarus, Moldova and other countries in a strong position.”

Opening summary

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned Ukraine has little chance of surviving Russia’s assault without US support, after the phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin earlier in the week.

The Ukrainian president said in an interview on NBC Meet the Press, which will be broadcast on Sunday:

Probably it will be very, very, very difficult. And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance – low chance to survive without support of the United States.”

After the conversation between Trump and Putin, after which Trump said he and Putin have agreed to begin negotiations for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Zelenskyy told Meet the Press that the Russian president wanted to come to the negotiating table not to end the war but to lift some global sanctions and allow Moscow’s military to regroup.

“This is really what he wants. He wants pause, prepare, train, take off some sanctions because of ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said.

Amid concerns that Ukraine may be sidelined in any deal between the US and Russia, Zelenskyy met JD Vance on Friday during the Munich Security Conference, telling the US vice-president that his country wants “security guarantees” and a joint US-Ukrainian peace plan before he enters into any talks with Putin to end the war.

Earlier in the day, European leaders claimed to have won US assurances that Ukraine’s leadership would be fully consulted over any peace talks with Russia and that the sovereignty of Ukraine would be protected, as they sought to ease fears that Trump was on the brink of abandoning Kyiv.

Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Nato chief Mark Rutte are among those to address the conference on Saturday.

In other developments:

The widow of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has warned there is “no point trying to negotiate” with Putin on Ukraine. “Just remember: he will lie,” Yulia Navalnaya told the Munich Security Conference on Friday. “If he remains in power, he will find a way to break the agreement. If he loses power, the agreement will become meaningless.”
The talks between Zelenskyy and Vance ended without an announcement of a critical minerals deal that is central to Kyiv’s push to win Trump’s backing. Kyiv came back to the US earlier with a revised draft agreement of the deal that could open up its vast resources of key minerals to US investment. “Our teams will continue to work on the document,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he assured his Ukrainian counterpart that it’s “Ukrainians alone who can drive the discussions for a solid and lasting peace” with Russia. “We will help them in this endeavour,” Macron wrote on X on Friday after a phone call with Zelenskyy, adding if Trump “can truly convince president Putin to stop the aggression against Ukraine, that is great news”.
A Russian drone carrying a high-explosive warhead struck the protective containment shell of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Zelenskyy said the damage to the shelter was “significant” and had started a fire, but he added that radiation levels at the plant had not increased. The SBU security service said the Iranian-designed Shahed drone intended to hit the reactor enclosure.