As it approaches the completion of one year from its inception Russian invasion of UkraineThe united front of the West remains in tatters, and the leaders of its most powerful countries rule out any talks with Moscow and more aid to Kyiv at this stage. This is the key message of the annual, International Munich Security Conferencewhich began yesterday and will end tomorrow with the participation of 40 heads of state and government, but without the presence of a Russian representative, for the first time in two decades.

Honorary figure of the conference, Mr. Vladimir Zelensky delivered an opening speech via videoconference from Kyiv, where he compared the military conflict in his country with the biblical confrontation between David and Goliath. Volodymyr Zelenskyy recalled that, according to the biblical legend, David won “not by dialogue, but by action” and asked to increase military assistance to his country as soon as possible.

“It is clear that Ukraine will not be the last stop (for the Kremlin). It will continue to operate in other states that were part of the Soviet Union,” Zelensky said, concluding that “there is no alternative but the victory of Ukraine, there is no alternative but to join NATO and the EU.”

Dubbed the “Davos of Security,” the annual Munich Conference has at times served as a barometer of relations between Russia and the West. From the rostrum of this conference in 2007, Vladimir Putin delivered a fateful speech in which he sharply criticized “American hegemony.” This time, the organizers did not invite any Russian officials or diplomats, believing, as conference chairman Christoph Heusgen said, that by invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin “broke away from civilization.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris is leading a large US delegation to this year’s security conference, which opened with Zelenskiy’s speech.

In his speech, conference moderator Olaf Soltz urged countries committed to send tanks to Germany to do so as soon as possible and stressed that “we must prepare for a long war.” Emmanuel Macron, who replaced the German chancellor on the podium, moved on the same wavelength. The French President assessed that “now is not the time for dialogue with Russia” as Moscow decided to escalate the conflict and that “we absolutely must increase our support for the resistance of the Ukrainian people and the army, helping them to launch a counteroffensive.” because only in this way can credible negotiations be possible.”

The conference is attended by an impressively large American delegation, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and a third of the members of the Senate, demonstrating the importance the Biden administration places on strengthening transatlantic ties. Wang Yi, the country’s number one diplomat and member of the CCP Politburo, is expected to intervene from China. Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that Wang Yi had told him during a conversation about Ukraine that Chinese President Xi Jinping would make a “peace speech” to commemorate the first anniversary of the start of the war.

On the sidelines of the summit, Finnish Prime Minister Sauli Niinistö said the fate of his country’s NATO bid was now “in Turkey’s hands” as the Finnish parliament decided to end the formal process by passing a law on February 28. Tayyip Erdogan still vetoes Sweden’s membership, but does not rule out accepting Finland’s membership.