Event Summary
MSC and Center for Liberal Modernity Host Discussion on Relations with Russia in the Wake of War in Ukraine
The Munich Security Conference and the Center for Liberal Modernity hosted two panel discussions with experts from Ukraine, Germany, and the United States on the question of how the West should deal with an increasingly repressive and confrontational Russia.
On March 24, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) and the Center for Liberal Modernity brought together a group of experts, including former Ukrainian policymakers, for a discussion on how the West should engage with an increasingly repressive and confrontational Russia in the context of the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine.
The two-part event began with a panel discussion between German members of parliament. The panel featured Michael Roth (Chairman of the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee, SPD), Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (Chairwoman of the Bundestag's Defense Committee, FDP), Roderich Kiesewetter (Spokesman for Crisis Prevention, CDU/CSU), and Agnieszka Brugger(Deputy Chairwoman of the Green Party parliamentary group), which was moderated by Ralf Fücks, Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity. After opening remarks by Fücks, a candid and substantive discussion took place between the parliamentarians. Unanimously, all acknowledged the fundamental change in Western-Russian relations that the Ukraine war signifies and stressed the necessity of aiding Ukraine in defending itself.
The second part of the event consisted in a panel discussion moderated by MSC Vice-Chairman Boris Ruge, which included former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, Atlantic Council Fellow and former senior US diplomat Daniel Fried, and foreign policy advisor to the Deputy Prime-Minister of Ukraine Svitlana Zalishchuk. Ruge opened the discussion by pointing out three things he considered essential to remember regarding the war in Ukraine: the brutality and immense human cost of the war, the fact that this is a war not just against Ukraine but the whole democratic world, and that therefore Russia must not win this war.
I do not ever want to hear the cliché that there is no military solution. There is a bad military solution, which is that Putin wins, and there is a good military solution, which is that Ukraine prevents him from winning.Daniel Fried•Fellow, Atlantic Council
The discussion that followed focused on military support to Ukraine, the risks of further escalation of the war, and the war's possible consequences for President Vladimir Putin and his regime. Participating virtually from Ukraine, Klimkin delivered his opening remarks stating that the Russian invasion was not going as planned but that this would not motivate Putin to back off. Fried, in his contribution, stressed the importance of helping Ukraine win this war: "I do not ever want to hear the cliché that there is no military solution. There is a bad military solution, which is that Putin wins, and there is a good military solution, which is that Ukraine prevents him from winning."Zalishchuk expressed her fears that the stalling of Russia's offensive might cause an even further escalation of the war: "Putin thought it was going to be a victorious two-days war; it did not happen. He failed. But that is why it scares me that he will become even more brutal." The discussion ended with Klimkin stressing once more the importance of supporting Ukraine, as it would be the only way to prevent Putin from winning the war.
