By excluding Russia, this year's Munich Security Conference cannot advance peace in terms of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, analysts said.

The 59th Munich Security Conference (MSC) opened on Friday in Germany. About 150 senior officials, including over 40 heads of state and government, and leaders of international organizations are attending the three-day MSC to discuss pressing global security challenges and concerns.

Russia-Ukraine conflict tops agenda

As this year's conference almost marks exactly the first anniversary of the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it topped the agenda.

Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday expressed China's stance on the conflict, saying China will continue to stand firmly on the side of dialogue and peace at the 59th MSC.

Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, is the first senior Chinese official to participate in the MSC in three years since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Nearly 50 lawmakers from both major U.S. political parties attended the start of Europe's premier annual security conference to affirm bipartisan support for U.S. aid to Ukraine, according to Reuters.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed to sustain a "record level of international support for Ukraine" after they had a conversation on Saturday.

French President Emmanuel Macron toughened his stance towards Moscow, urging allies to step up military support for Ukraine to help it push back Russia's invasion since now was not the time for dialogue with Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday at the start of the conference urged allies to speed up sending weapons to defeat Russia, otherwise, their security may also be threatened.  

Russia excluded from MSC

The annual Munich Security Report released on February 13 centering on the Russia-Ukraine conflict reveals that MSC aims to "contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflicts."

However, as a key participant in the conflict, Russia has been excluded from the MSC for two consecutive years.

None of Russia's officials were invited to attend this year's conference. Christoph Heusgen, chairman of the MSC, was quoted as saying that "We don't want the Munich Security Conference to serve as a podium for Russian propaganda."

In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that even if they were invited, they had no interest to go as the platform had lost its objectivity. 

Without Russia, peace hardly advanced

Stimson Center, leading foreign affairs think tank in the U.S., released a commentary on February 16 saying that Munich Security Conference has lost its value as it excluded important stakeholders such as Russia. 

"There is no guarantee that inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin or Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Munich would help bring about a cease-fire, let alone a more permanent settlement," the article said, "but not having Russians there does not advance the cause of peace, either."

Thousands of demonstrators also gathered outside the conference to protest against the western officials' consensus on providing more weapons to Ukraine and called for an end to the conflict.

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times that Europe's prosperity is based on peace, but Europe is suffering from an "unspeakable awkwardness" in solving the crisis.

Europe, the biggest victim of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, has become increasingly disappointed that the US dragged it into the state of conflict for Washington's own benefit, but they cannot openly express opposition, Li said, "How to prevent Europe from being taken hostage by the U.S. is actually the real challenge to European security." 

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World leaders discuss global challenges at Munich Security Conference

(Cover: Chairman of the 59th Munich Security Conference Christoph Heusgen speaks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the MSC in Munich, Germany, February 18, 2023. /Xinhua)