BERLIN: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected at the Munich Security Conference, where the war with Russia and how to end it will be high on the agenda, organisers said Monday.
Senior representatives from US President Donald Trump’s new administration will also be at the gathering in the southern German city from Friday to Sunday.
The US delegation would include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and presidential envoy on the Ukraine-Russia war Keith Kellogg, MSC chair Christoph Heusgen told a Berlin press conference.
Zelensky is expected to attend in person, allowing for potential talks with representatives of Kyiv’s key allies, Heugsen said.
“We hope that Munich will be used – and we have signs that it will – to make progress with regard to peace in Ukraine,” the former diplomat said.
Donald Trump says he has spoken to Putin about ending war in Ukraine, the New York Post reports
“We assume that talks will take place on the sidelines. I will leave it open whether a plan will be announced at the conference.
“What I am certain of is that the conference will be used to see the contours of such a plan.”
Heusgen added that “I hope we will make progress in Munich… the fact that the person responsible for this, Kellogg, will attend is an indication of this for me.”
The high-level security meet in Munich comes shortly before the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The conference could be one of the first opportunities for senior US officials to speak directly with representatives from Ukraine since Trump returned to the White House last month.
During his campaign, Trump promised a quick end to the war but provided few details on how he hoped to achieve that goal.
Vance was expected to give a speech on Friday in Munich, Heusgen said, adding that no official representatives of the Russian government would be there.
“No one has expressed a desire for official Russians… to come,” he said. By contrast, organisers had “invited Russians from non-governmental organisations, from the opposition, both from Russia and from exile”.
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