Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Will Defend Itself With Or Without Partners Amid Soaring Tensions With Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy joined calls by Western leaders on February 19 for Russia to de-escalate amid soaring tensions with at least 150,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders fueling fears of an imminent invasion.

Zelenskiy told the annual Munich Security Conference that Ukraine would defend its land with its partners or without.

His comments came after a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich gathering with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who told the conference that any further invasion of Ukraine by Russia will be met by a bolstering of NATO’s eastern flank and “unprecedented” costs for Moscow.

"We will not stop with economic measures. We will further reinforce our NATO allies on the eastern flank" in response to an invasion, Harris said at the annual Munich Security Conference on February 19.

In the event of a Russian attack, Harris also warned Russia that it will face “unprecedented” financial costs and predicted that such an attack would draw European allies closer to the United States.

Her remarks come a day after U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to invade.

Russian Military Hardware Sighted Close To Ukraine's Kharkiv

Russia has at least 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders, and the situation on the contact line in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed separatists control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, has worsened over the past two days, with Kyiv accusing the separatists of firing on Ukrainian positions.

Adding to worries was news on February 19 that Putin had launched exercises by strategic nuclear missile forces.

SEE ALSO: Putin Oversees Russia's Strategic Nuclear Exercises As Tensions Soar Over Ukraine

Amid rising fears of war, foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich nations said in a statement that they had seen no evidence of Russia reducing its military activity near Ukraine's borders and remained "gravely concerned" about the situation.

Zelenskiy told the security conference in Munich that Western powers should abandon what he called their policy of “appeasement” toward Moscow.

"Ukraine has received security guarantees for abandoning the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal. We have no weapons. And no security ... But we have a right -- a right to demand a shift from a policy of appeasement to one ensuring security and peace," he said.

The world has failed Ukraine because its security architecture is beyond repair, Zelenskiy charged.

“The security architecture of Europe is almost destroyed. It's too late to talk about fixing it," he said during his speech at the conference.

He slammed other countries for not providing his country with the military assistance it needs in light of the threat, saying that the assistance given so far was more "like a cough syrup than a good Covid vaccine" against a real threat that could turn on the rest of Europe after it marches on Ukraine.

"Ukraine has been serving as a shield for eight years now. A reliable shield holding back one of the largest armies in the world."

Zelensky also said he wants a 'clear' time frame for when Ukraine can join the NATO alliance.

'What can we do? We can continue forcefully supporting Ukraine and its defenses. Present... clear, feasible time frames for membership of the Alliance,' he said.

SEE ALSO: 'They Drink A Lot, Sell Their Fuel': Belarusians Give Low Marks To Russian Troops Deployed For Drills

Earlier, Harris warned of a heavy price Moscow would pay if it further invaded Ukraine.

“Let me be clear, I can say with absolute certainty: If Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States, together with our allies and partners, will impose significant, and unprecedented economic costs,” Harris said.

Harris said the Biden administration, along with its allies, had sought to engage with Moscow in good faith to find a diplomatic resolution but was not met the Kremlin in good faith.

“Russia continues to say it is ready to talk while at the same time it narrows the avenues for diplomacy,” Harris said. “Their actions simply do not match their words.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on a visit to Lithuania on February 19 that Russia's military was "poised to strike" Ukraine, even as he voiced hope that Putin would step back from the brink of war.

"There are significant combat forces forward, those forces are now beginning to uncoil and move closer to the border, that facilitates their onward movement," he said.

SEE ALSO: Ukraine Officials Come Under Shelling As Separatist Leaders Order Military Mobilization

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the conference in Munich that, if Western nations fail to live up to their promises to support Ukraine's independence, it would have damaging consequences worldwide, including for Taiwan.

"Every time that Western ministers have visited Kyiv, we have assured the people of Ukraine and their leaders that we stand four-square behind their sovereignty and independence," Johnson told the gathering.

"If Ukraine is endangered, the shock will echo around the world. And those echoes will be heard in east Asia, will be heard in Taiwan," he added. "People would draw the conclusion that aggression pays, and that might is right."

Earlier at the Munich Security Conference, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia “to stop preparing for war” and seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis it has created on the border with Ukraine.

Surge In Shelling, Separatist Evacuation Orders Raise Specter Of Russian Attack On Ukraine

Stoltenberg told the gathering in the Bavarian city that he had sent a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to engage in dialogue within the NATO-Russia Council to avert a conflict in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg also told the Munich Security Conference that there were no signs of a Russian withdrawal from the borders of Ukraine and that the risk of a conflict was real.

In an interview on the sidelines of the conference, Stoltenberg said NATO expects that the Russian army will mount “a full-scale attack” on neighboring Ukraine.

"We all agree that the risk of an attack is very high."

Stoltenberg also said that Moscow was putting forward security demands that the Kremlin knew NATO could never meet.

That concern was echoed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who told the conference: "Russia has made the issue of Ukraine's possible NATO membership a casus belli, which is a paradox because there is no decision on this on the agenda," he said.

Scholz also dismissed Putin's claims of genocide in east Ukraine's separatist-held regions as "ridiculous,” which the Russian Foreign Ministry later said was “unacceptable,” according to Interfax.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the conference that complying with Russian demands is not the way to achieve peace in Europe.

"It is naive to believe that fulfilling some of the demands of Russia will lead to peaceful cohabitation, peaceful coexistence," Morawiecki said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told the conference that comments by Russia-backed separatists in the past 24 hours appeared to follow the false flag script many people had predicted, warning that this must not become a justification for war.

Ukraine did not do anything to justify the evacuations ordered in separatist areas, Baerbock said.

Separatist leaders in areas they control in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk ordered an “emergency” evacuation on February 18 in videos that an analysis of metadata by RFE/RL’s Russian Service showed they were videotaped two days earlier on February 16, indicating it was a preplanned action.

SEE ALSO: Videos By Russia-Backed Separatists In Eastern Ukraine Calling For 'Emergency' Evacuation Were Filmed Two Days Earlier

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the gathering that Russia risks throwing away future prosperity if it invades Ukraine, vowing a “robust package” of financial and economic sanctions against Moscow in the event of any aggression.

She also told the gathering in Munich on February 19 that the EU is now fully prepared in the event of a halt in Russian gas supplies.

"Today I can say that, even in the case of full disruption of gas supply by Russia, we are on the safe side for this winter," she said.

Von der Leyen accused Russian energy giant Gazprom of “deliberately trying to store and deliver as little as possible while prices and demand are skyrocketing."

There have been fears in the EU for weeks that the current conflict with Russia could lead to a disruption of gas supplies.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP