Munich Security Conference: French President Macron bashes Putin in a hard-hitting address

French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky few days ahead in Paris, rebuked Russia at the Munich Security Conference, for its ongoing onslaught on Ukraine. In a strong statement, Macron said "it is not the time for dialogue because Russia has chosen war."

While pledging his staunch support for Ukraine in its fight, Macron said that Ukrainian allies "absolutely need" to intensify the support for the Ukrainian people and its army to help them to launch a counter-offensive.

He added that counter-offensive will be the only way to "allow credible negotiations."

Macron at his address at the conference said, "No one in this room has an answer to this: There is not complete and long-term peace in our continent as long as the Russian matter goes unresolved."

He went on to say that the western allies stands in solidarity with Ukraine and is "ready for a prolonged conflict." The French president said that Russia is "further intensify this war, and has chosen to go as far as committing war crimes and attacking civilian infrastructures."

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in his address said that the western allies should send tanks to Ukraine now. "We need to hurry up. We need speed – speed of our agreements, speed of our delivery, speed of decisions to limit Russian potential. There is no alternative to speed because it is the speed that life depends on," he said.

Zelensky, who opened the Munich Security Conference on Friday urged allies to "hurry up" and support Kyiv.

World leaders have gathered in Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference, scheduled from 17 February to 19 February. The annual conference which deals with the contemporary global security policy challenges is being held days ahead of one-year anniversary of Russia's war on Ukraine, which started last year on 24 February.

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