- The 62nd Munich Security Conference is taking place at the Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich, Germany, from Friday to Sunday, convening more than 60 heads of state and government, 50 leaders of international organisations and participants from at least 115 countries.
- The first day of the gathering on Friday saw French President Emmanuel Macron call for “a strong Europe” while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged a “rift” between Europe and the US.
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- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington wants to lead global “renewal and restoration … and that while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe”.
- Five European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, have accused Russia of “poisoning” opposition leader Alexey Navalny in prison in 2024 using a “rare toxin”, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is feeling “a little bit” of pressure after US leader Donald Trump called for him to get moving on peace talks and told a panel discussion “, Give us two months of ceasefire, and we will go to elections”.
- The exiled son of Iran’s last shah, US-based Reza Pahlavi, has called on Trump to help the Iranian people and said it was “time to end the Islamic Republic” as he attended the Munich Security Conference.
- Secretary-General of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard has criticised European leaders and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for delivering “mediocre statements” at the Munich Security Conference.
- About 200,000 people have taken part in a protest against Iran’s government in Munich, according to local police.
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Former NATO chief says ‘Putin does not want peace’
Anders Fogh Rasmussen has told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that he has little hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin would negotiate an end to the Ukraine war under present circumstances.
“As long as he believes that he can win on the battlefield, he has no incentive to engage in constructive peace negotiations,” he said. “That’s why we have to put more pressure on Putin to force him into the negotiating room.”
Rasmussen, who served as Secretary General of the trans-Atlantic alliance between 2009 and 2014, said more pressure should come both on the military front, by delivering more weapons to Ukraine, and on the economic front, by strengthening sanctions against Russia.
Zelenskyy says Iran government ‘must be stopped immediately’
The Ukrainian leader has weighed in on the protests against Iran’s government taking place in Munich, where the security conference is taking place.
“Regimes like the one in Iran must not be given time. When they have time, they only kill more. They must be stopped immediately,” Zelenskyy said.
“The Iranian regime has already done – and can still do – more harm than many other regimes could do in a century.”
He added that “the Iranian Shahed drones they sold to Russia are killing our people and destroying our infrastructure.”
