Amid varying and multiple reports for many weeks that Ukraine faced an “imminent” and “immediate” invasion by Russian, including a predicted invasion date of February 16th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a passionate speech at the Munich Security Conference with thanks and gratitude but also jabs and appeals to NATO and the European Union to help it secure its borders.

“You’re telling me that it’s 100% that the war will start in a couple of days. Then what [are you] waiting for?” he told the Western leaders present at the Munich Security Conference speech and interview portions.

“We don’t need your sanctions after the bombardment will happen, and after our country will be fired at or after we will have no borders or after we will have no economy or parts of our country will be occupied. Why would we need those sanctions then? What is this about? So when you’re asking what can be done, well, lots of different things can be done. We can even provide you with a list.”

One of the items on that list would be forcing the end of work on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.  This pipeline runs under the Baltic Sea bypassing NATO countries like Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland to supply natural gas to Germany. By running it under the sea, rather than overland, it gives Russia complete control of its operations. Currently, Russia provides 40% of Europe’s natural gas.  In 2019 President Trump signed legislation into law over the objections of the EU that sanctioned countries working on Nord Stream 2.  In May of 2021, President Biden defied Congress and lifted the sanctions on Nord Stream 2 and the companies building it, clearing it for completion.