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Traveling from the Munich Security Conference toward Ukraine’s frontlines, the polite frustration and manicured pleas of Western leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky feel yet more desperate. The warnings that Ukraine might suffer setbacks on the frontline if the US Congress continued to hold up a $60 billion aid package have now curdled into a bitter, brutal reality.
The pledges and rhetoric have so far amounted to little; in the wait, or abyss, ahead, Ukraine is losing people and land. It is all very real, very immediate and stark. After months of stalemate, the possibility of sweeping changes on the frontlines is quite real.
The horrific death of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny meant the brutality of President Vladimir Putin’s regime was amplified and crystal-clear for European leaders who had feared the gathering would be dogged by doubts over a future Trump presidency’s adherence to the NATO alliance. Latvia’s president spoke of murder, Germany’s defense minister of how the death showed Russia was willing and able to provoke the West. Ukraine reasoned it was clear proof Putin was too irrational a man to negotiate with.
Yet still, the conference – often a talking shop, fixated on entourages and colored passes over concrete results – ended without major progress. US President Joe Biden had said in 2021 that Navalny’s death would lead to devastating consequences for Russia. Yet the White House’s toolkit has been somewhat emptied by the 2022 invasion and as of Monday morning – 72 hours after Navalny’s passing was announced – no measures have been announced.
