It is great to be in Munich again. This Security Conference could not be any more timely than it is today. It is clear that we have very turbulent times in the world. When [it] comes to the war in Ukraine, and the war is still going on.  

Today, we saw that Russia is bombing a nuclear station. It clearly shows that they do not want peace. All these other talks have been totally obsolete because of the bombing of the nuclear station, the bombing of civilians, and the bombing of civilian infrastructures. 

What is up to us right now is to decide and discuss how we support Ukraine – right now – in this endeavour, because our values have not changed. The goals of Russia have not changed either. 

We need to stick to our ground and really bring in what is at stake here.  

I am very much looking forward to the discussions. We have discussions with the Americans here, a lot of them, and we have interactions with different global actors as well. 

I think this is very important, very timely.  

Q&A. 

Q. What is your strategy to secure your place at the negotiation table? Do you see any tools of leverage besides saying “no peace deal will work without us”?  

But this is true, no peace deal will work without us, because for the implementation of any kind of deal, there is a need for Ukrainians, but also Europeans, to implement it. So, you can do the deals without us, but they will not work. They just will not work. And that is our strategy. That is true.  

Q. Regarding sanctions on Russia, how are you going to operate with President Trump if he is going to push for a peace deal? 

The sanctions are in place, and the sanctions are to push Russia to stop this war. I think they are very necessary. Considering the damage that Russia has caused in Ukraine, we cannot possibly imagine that we will just lift the sanctions, and say that, “you know, we just walk away and we don't care about the damages you caused.” I mean, they also have to pay for the damages. It cannot come from our taxpayers, companies.

Q. High Representative, will you meet the Chinese foreign minister later? Has your message vis-a-vis Russia changed to the Chinese in light of events involving President Trump this week and the change in the US position? 

So, we will have good conversations. I was expecting to have them today in the morning, but we will have them later on. The message is very clear, if China wants to have good relations with Europe, they also have to stop enabling Russia's war. We see the dual use goods, that 80% of them come via China to Russia, and we need this war to stop. Therefore, we also need China's help to not enable Russia here. 

Q. High Representative, do you fear another Munich movement? Some argue this is where appeasement starts and another country is going to be is going to be sacrificed. Do you fear that seriously? Is that your message to Europeans? 

It is true that we can draw parallels with 1938. The parallel we can draw is that in 1938 the Czechs, if they had decided to fight, the only thing that was asked from us is to support them in this fight. So right now, the Ukrainians are fighting, and it is for us to support them so that there would not be any World War. That is why it is very important that that we stick to our ground here. Of course, we do not see any deals made here in Munich right now. I think we coordinated with our European allies yesterday, and this is the ground: if Ukraine resists, we will support them.  

Q. Trump said one thing, JD Vance another. [inaudible] to get what they want. 

There are different messages, of course, when we sit down with our American counterparts – and we have had similar messages to support Ukraine, and what is it saying here. But it's key that we will keep united when it comes to Europe. But also, I hope, to keep united with our American allies, because Iran, Russia, also North Korea, but more covertly also China, teaming up against us and we need to stick to our ground.