Organizers: 'Zero interest' from Russia in Munich Security Conference

The Russian government has shown no interest in participating in the Munich Security Conference, organizers said on Tuesday.

"There has been no contact whatsoever from the Russian embassy, which regularly submitted requests for invitations before 2022," conference Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger told dpa. "This shows me that there is zero interest in constructive talks."

Ischinger expects Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to attend the major international security forum in the Bavarian capital as he has done in the past two years.

The meeting takes place from February 13-15 at the luxury Hotel Bayerischer Hof.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was a regular guest at the conference in the past, attending almost every year between 2004 and 2020.

After Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia was unwelcome at the conference.

However, with negotiations between Kiev and Moscow set to take place in Abu Dhabi this week, this year's Munich Security Conference emerged as a potential site for high-level diplomacy on resolving the conflict.

Ischinger said he could well have imagined negotiations between the two warring parties in Munich.

"Of course, Munich could be a place for such a channel of communication," he told dpa. "But that would require a willingness on the Russian side to engage in serious dialogue and peace. And we are not there at the moment, which I regret."