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US secretary of state Marco Rubio has warned the “old order is gone” ahead of a possible meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference.
Speaking before he departed the US, Mr Rubio said the world is at a “defining moment”, adding: “The Old World is gone, frankly, the world I grew up in.”
He said we live “in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to re-examine what that looks like and what our role is going to be”.
World leaders are gathering in Munich for the summit which will see Mr Zelensky, Mr Rubio, British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron, and several others take to the stage.
The meeting comes one day after Ukraine said it will receive $38 billion (£27.9bn) in military aid from its allies in 2026, including a £500 million for air defence from the UK as part of a £3 billion support package.
The aid will be used to fund drones, air defence systems, and Patriot missiles, defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.
The Nato alliance will become more European-led, with a continuing strong presence of the US, as European allies significantly increase military spending, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said on Friday.
“Over the coming years we will more and more sea a Nato that is more European-led, but at the same time with the US absolutely anchored in the organization,” Mr Rutte told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“We will do this step by step, in close conjunction with the United States, based on the defense planning process we have.”
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, right, with Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP) (AP)
Alex Croft13 February 2026 15:13
World leaders gathering in Munich for the annual security conference are being greeted by a report from their hosts that takes an axe to the policies of Donald Trump and warns that global security structures risk being turned to rubble.
The Munich Security Report 2026, titled Under Destruction, says that: “The world has entered a period” of “wrecking-ball politics”.
“Sweeping destruction – rather than careful reforms and policy corrections – is the order of the day. The most prominent of those who promise to free their country from the existing order’s constraints and rebuild a stronger, more prosperous nation is the current US administration. As a result, more than 80 years after construction began, the US-led post-1945 international order is now under destruction.”
The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:
Alex Croft13 February 2026 14:50
Alex Croft13 February 2026 14:34
Ukraine hopes for “serious and responsible” talks with Russia backed by the US in Geneva on February 17-18, the head of Kyiv’s delegation said on Friday.
The Ukrainian team remains the same and was “formed taking into account the military, political, and security components of the process”, Rustem Umerov said on Telegram.
Moscow announced earlier on Friday that the Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky will head the Russian delegation instead of Igor Kostyukov, its head of military intelligence.
Alex Croft13 February 2026 14:19
German chancellor Friedrich Merz was speaking earlier at the Munich Security Conference, where he discussed international cooperation in an age of heightened tensions, even between once close western alliances.
The West is stronger together, Mr Merz said, arguing that even the US cannot go it alone.
A gap has opened between Europe and the US, he said, calling on the US and Europe to repair and rebuild transatlantic trust.
(Munich Security Conference)
Alex Croft13 February 2026 14:02
“For years we have had an atmosphere marked by increasing tensions and conflicts around the world,” said German chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
“And at the latest with the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine four years ago, we have entered a new phase of open conflicts and wars that make us hold our breath and that change our world more comprehensively than we would have thought possible many years ago.”
(Munich Security Conference)
Maira Butt13 February 2026 13:56
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has called for a stronger “sense of emergency” in Europe, calling on the content to be “strong enough” to weather a turbulent period.
Speaking to the Financial Times on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Ms Frederiksen said: “Unfortunately, strength is one of the weapons that is useful in this new world disorder and therefore Europe has to be strong enough.
“I will never suggest something that would separate the US from Europe, but if the US does something that separates us, or partly separates us, then of course my strongest advice for the rest of Europe is to fill in those gaps.”
Ms Frederiksen said there were “changes going on in the US” and that Europe therefore has “to act”.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was speaking on the sidelines o the Munich Security Conference (AP)
Alex Croft13 February 2026 13:40
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he visited a joint Ukrainian-German drone production facility and received the first jointly made attack drone.
“Ukraine has long worked to open coproduction lines in Europe. And today — this line is operational,” he said on X.
“First in Germany. This is a real result. Overall, by the end of the year we will open 10 joint ventures producing Ukrainian drones.”
Alex Croft13 February 2026 13:18