Munich conference sends strong message of support for Ukraine, opposition to Russia

At the Munich Security Conference last weekend, I kept thinking of Mark Twain’s famous response to a newspaper that had mistakenly printed his obituary: “The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.” At the Munich conference it was clear that the rumors of NATO’s death had been greatly exaggerated.

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has revived our Atlantic Alliance around our shared devotion to freedom and the rule of law. Gone are the heady years after the end of the Soviet Union when some on both sides of the Atlantic imagined a day when Russia would join NATO. Ended are the dreams of some of our European Allies that after the Cold War and two world wars on their continent they would enjoy a long time of peace and unity. It is sad in its way but it is real and imperative. NATO’s response to Putin’s aggression opens the door to a more secure and free future, not just for Ukraine but also for the rest of Europe and large parts of the world where countries that think about conquering neighbors by force will now think long before trying it.

The Europeans understand that they are threatened most by Putin, but their strong and unified response to the invasion of Ukraine would not have happened without the extraordinary support of the U.S., led by the Biden administration and a bipartisan majority in Congress. At Munich, Vice President Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken eloquently and passionately made the case for freedom and the inviolability of national boundaries. The vice president accused the Russians of committing war crimes.

But there were some prominent European leaders who after vigorously supporting Ukraine nevertheless sounded an uncertain trumpet in Munich in words that can undercut Ukraine’s cause. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who has worked effectively and importantly for Ukraine said that NATO must not get into a direct conflict with Russia. NATO already is in a direct conflict with Russia. 

We have taken Ukraine’s side against Russia and the most significant person who gets that is Putin. After the vigorous way NATO has rallied to back Ukraine, Putin will never trust the West again nor should we ever trust him. French President Emmanuel Macron followed Scholz with a denunciation of Russia but diluted it with a call to start thinking about negotiations for a peace agreement soon. It is very premature to do that and sends a message to Putin that NATO support for Ukraine will not be sustained over the long term. Secretary Blinken forcefully knocked down all the irresolute talk, declaring that it was up to the Ukrainian leadership to decide when and how they wanted this war to end. President Volodymyr Zelensky (by video) and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (in person) said the war would stop when their country was fully liberated and every Russian soldier had gone. The new German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock vigorously agreed with the Ukrainians. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said clearly, “We cannot let Russia win.” A new generation of European leaders, including the prime minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, also rebutted Scholz and Macron. She warned her colleagues not to be frightened and not to give Putin any reason to think Europe was frightened or growing tired of the war. Her remarks drew loud applause from the Munich conferees.

The new president of the Munich Security Conference, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, took a principled stand and refused to reinvite representatives of the governments of Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran this year. Instead, in the halls of the conference and on the streets of Munich, the Iranian people were represented by a diverse group of anti-regime resisters and the Russian people were represented by the widow of Boris Nemstov, the great freedom fighter who was assassinated by Russian agents, and by Gary Kasparov, the world chess champion and eloquent anti-Putin activist.

That would have greatly pleased John McCain with whom I attended the Munich meetings for almost three decades. John saw early on that Putin was a thug and a tyrant and always supported Russian democratic leaders like Nemtsov, Kasparov, Sergei Magnitsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Alexei Navalny.

The U.S. congressional delegation to Munich was the largest ever and thoroughly bipartisan under the leadership of Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I). For the first time ever the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), were there and sent a strong message of bipartisan support for freedom in Ukraine and opposition to Putin’s Russia. It is critically important that such bipartisan support continue in the presidential and congressional campaigns of 2024.

We departed Munich confident that the world order of law and freedom established after World War Two and the Cold War, which Putin has attacked in Ukraine more directly than anyone since Adolf Hitler, will be defended until victory is achieved and will prevail to our benefit on into a better future.

Joe Lieberman served as U.S. senator for Connecticut from 1989-2013. He is founding chair of No Labels.