\n<\/p>\n
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called on world leaders not to abandon his country, citing the recent death of a Russian dissident as a reminder that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would continue to test the international order, and pushing back against the idea of a negotiated resolution to the war.<\/p>\n
Mr. Zelensky, speaking on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, said that if Ukraine lost the war to Russia, it would be \u201ccatastrophic\u201d not only for Kyiv, but for other nations as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease do not ask Ukraine when the war will end,\u201d he said. \u201cAsk yourself why is Putin still able to continue it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two topics that have loomed over nearly every discussion at the yearly meeting of world leaders have been Russia and the potential weakening of trans-Atlantic relations, amid an increasingly pessimistic assessment of Kyiv\u2019s ability to beat Moscow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr. Zelensky\u2019s speech on Saturday came as Ukrainian forces retreated from a longtime stronghold, Avdiivka<\/a>, giving Russian troops their first significant victory in almost a year.<\/p>\n And it came a day after attendees of the conference were shaken by the news that the prominent dissident Aleksei A. Navalny had died<\/a> in a Russian Arctic penal colony. It was a stark reminder, Mr. Zelensky warned, of how Moscow would continue to test the Western-backed international rules-based order.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Russia\u2019s war against any rules at all,\u201d Mr. Zelensky said. \u201cBut how long will the world let Russia be like this? This is the main question today.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Zelensky\u2019s impassioned call was in dramatic contrast to his last appearance in Munich, two years ago. At that moment, an invasion seemed inevitable, but European officials were still insisting, despite the satellite evidence of massing troops, that Mr. Putin was bluffing. Even Mr. Zelensky, in his public appearance on the same stage that he used on Saturday, had said he did not believe Mr. Putin would dare to attack.<\/p>\n This year, Mr. Zelensky\u2019s message was that the death of Mr. Navalny on Friday<\/a>, and the evidence of Russian military buildups, should also make Europeans believe that Mr. Putin would not stop at Ukraine\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In conversations with reporters at the conference, European and American officials said that they saw no evidence, for now, that Mr. Putin wants to bring NATO forces into the war. But European leaders have started to warn repeatedly in recent weeks that a victory for Mr. Putin could embolden him to test NATO\u2019s resolve, particularly if the American commitment to the alliance wavers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The mood among many at the conference was deeply pessimistic, with European leaders consumed by discussions over how to ensure their own security after the U.S. presidential election in November that could see another term for former President Donald J. Trump, who last week invited Russian aggression against NATO member<\/a>s who did not pay their fair share.<\/p>\n