An end to the ten month conflict in Ukraine was the dominant theme at the second day of the Munich Security Conference.

Reports of intensified shelling by separatists on all front lines in the east of the country added impetus to the discussions.

A military solution, supporting Kyiv with defensive aid and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stance were constants in the debates.

“We will continue to provide Ukraine with security assistance, not to encourage war, but to allow Ukraine to defend itself. Let me be clear, we do not believe there is a military solution in Ukraine. But President Putin has to make a simple stark choice. Get out of Ukraine or face continued isolation and growing economic cost at home,” Joe Biden, US Vice President told delegates.

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko took questions from the floor. He ruled out accepting any change to territorial lines enshrined in the Minsk agreement.
It, he stressed was the only way forward.

“We need to have an election,