President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine welcomed the renewed pledges to carry Russia accountable by worldwide leaders assembly this weekend in Munich, the place Western officers doubled down on their resolve to help Kyiv days earlier than the anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

However Russia responded sharply to feedback by Vice President Kamala Harris, who used a speech on Saturday on the Munich Safety Convention to declare that Moscow had dedicated “crimes towards humanity” within the struggle in Ukraine and pledged to carry accountable “all those that have perpetrated these crimes,” in addition to their superiors.

In an announcement later Saturday, Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, dismissed the feedback “as an try, unprecedented when it comes to its cynicism, to demonize Russia.”

The present of Western help for Ukraine, and Russia’s continued defiance, comes at a symbolic and probably pivotal second as Russia tries to step up a brand new offensive in japanese Ukraine and with the struggle reaching the one-year mark on Friday.

On Tuesday, President Biden is scheduled to watch the anniversary with a go to to Warsaw, whereas President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is anticipated to ship a speech on the identical day.

In an tackle late Saturday, Mr. Zelensky mentioned that he was “grateful” for the “necessary statements” of help from Western officers.

“We acquired robust alerts from our companions, and concrete agreements relating to the inevitability of holding Russia accountable for aggression, for terror towards Ukraine and its folks,” he mentioned.

Consultants warn that any authorized course of to research and prosecute crimes towards humanity could be lengthy and tedious, with arrests or convictions removed from assured. And whereas Mr. Zelensky’s allies have provided Ukraine with ever extra highly effective weapons, it’s not clear that his newest pleas — together with for fighter jets and long-range missiles — might be met by Western leaders cautious of frightening Russia into additional aggression.

Nonetheless, america and its European companions had been keen to point out unity, largely repeating on the Munich convention — an annual gathering that pulls leaders from dozens of countries — that they’d again Ukraine for so long as it takes.

Russia’s most influential associate, China, delivered a usually calibrated message on the convention. Wang Yi, the Chinese language Communist Get together’s senior member for overseas affairs, mentioned that “nuclear wars should not be fought,” a possible sign to Moscow that China won’t tolerate using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, as Russian officers have at instances threatened.

On the identical time, Mr. Wang sought to deflect blame for the struggle away from Russia, arguing that “some forces may not wish to see peace talks” and “may need strategic targets bigger than Ukraine itself.” That language echoed Kremlin claims, rejected by the West, that Moscow was keen to interact in good-faith peace talks and that NATO aimed to subjugate Russia.