Speed up support for Ukraine, Zelensky pleads

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen speaking on screen during the Opening Gala of the Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, in Berlin on February 16, 2023. Ronny Hartmann / AFP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky urged world leaders Friday to speed up support at the opening of the Munich Security Conference, as European allies renewed vows to back Kyiv ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion.

Western backers have delivered an array of weaponry to Ukraine since the outbreak of the war and pledged more, but Kyiv fears crucial supplies will arrive too slowly to defend against major new offensives.

"We need to hurry up," Zelensky told the start of the three-day gathering via video link. "We need speed -- speed of our agreements, speed of our delivery... speed of decisions to limit Russian potential".

There is no "alternative", as people's lives were on the line, he said.

The key annual conference comes just days ahead of the February 24 anniversary of Moscow sending its forces into the country, unleashing war in Europe for the first time in decades.

It is being attended by the leaders of France and Germany, as well as US Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, China's top diplomat Wang Yi and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

Russian delegates including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was a regular attendee at Munich in the past, have not been invited.

Zelensky also insisted that there was "no alternative" to Ukraine triumphing in its fight against President Vladimir Putin's troops, and no choice but for Kyiv to eventually join the EU and NATO.

- 'Intensify support' -

Speaking to the forum after Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron urged allies to "intensify our support" for Ukraine to aid its forces in launching a counter-offensive.

While insisting he did not want to see a drawn-out war, he said France was ready for a "prolonged conflict" and it was not the right time for dialogue with Moscow.

"We have a Russia which has chosen war, which has chosen to intensify the war, and which has chosen to go as far as committing war crimes and to attacking civilian infrastructures," he said.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz meanwhile insisted that German support was "designed to last", but took a veiled swipe at other allies over faltering efforts to deliver promised tanks to Ukraine.

Facing desperate pleas from Kyiv, Berlin finally agreed in January to allow German-made, heavy Leopard tanks -- widely used in Europe -- to be sent Ukraine.

Berlin has vowed to send some of the most modern variety from its military stocks but is struggling to persuade allies to do the same.

"Those who can send such battle tanks should really do so now," Scholz told the conference, where he said he would be "intensively campaigning" to get allies to move on the issue.

It is a reversal of fortunes for Scholz, who up until last months facing accusations of foot-dragging over his reluctance to permit delivery of the tanks.

Under German law, Berlin must give permission for other countries that use the tanks to re-export them.

- Balloons raise tensions -

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is in Munich, and is expected to join a meeting of foreign ministers from the G7 club of rich countries on Saturday, on the sidelines of the conference.

With signs that Russia is managing to adapt to the sanctions imposed following its invasion, the United States and its allies plan a major array of new measures against Moscow to mark the war's anniversary, a US official said.

US-China ties will also be in focus at the gathering, with tensions sky-high after Washington shot down an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon over US territory.

With high-level US and Chinese delegations in town, there has been speculation of talks on the sidelines to ease tensions.

The huge white balloon from China was spotted over a series of secret nuclear weapons sites earlier this month, before being shot down just off the eastern US coast.

The incident prompted a diplomatic rift, with Blinken cancelling a rare China visit. Beijing, however, says the balloon was just a stray weather research craft.