Munich Security Conference
Zelensky receives award for Ukrainian resistance
Updated February 14, 2026 – 9:12 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The Ewald von Kleist Prize is awarded annually on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. This time it went to the Ukrainian president – representing all citizens of his country.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has been honored with the Ewald von Kleist Prize 2026 in recognition of the courage and resilience of all Ukrainians. The award was presented to him on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference at a reception given by Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) in the Munich Residence. The laudatory speech was given by Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Tusk said the Ukrainian people deserve the greatest respect of the entire free world. Ukraine is paying the highest price for its resistance against the enemy, who is also a threat to all of Europe and the entire Western world.
Zelenskyj particularly thanked the European heads of state and government for their support, but also EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “I would like to thank everyone who supports us.”
“For more than a decade, the Ukrainian people have been fighting for their freedom, independence and dignity – first in Crimea and Donbass after the Russian invasion in 2014 and later throughout the country after Russia launched its large-scale invasion in 2022,” the head of the conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, emphasized when announcing the prize winner. The award also expressly goes to the many people who lost their lives or were injured in the war.
Ewald von Kleist founded the forerunner of the security conference, the Wehrkundetagung, in 1963. The prize honors people or institutions who have made particular contributions to conflict resolution. Previous winners include Henry Kissinger, Helmut Schmidt, Valéry Giscard d”Estaing, John McCain, the United Nations and Angela Merkel, but also the countries of Sweden and Finland.
