German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the key message that could come out of the Munich Security Conference, set to begin on Friday, is that "the free, democratic world" will continue supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russia.  

Pistorius said Russia’s war in Ukraine concerned everyone, "because it would encourage autocrats and dictators of this world to do something similar if Putin were to get away with it."

He further criticized his party colleague Katarina Barley for initiating a debate about the EU having its own nuclear bomb.  "My opinion: You don't discuss this in public," he said.

Pistorius made the comments to the German news aggregator Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). Previously, he dismissed this debate as unnecessary.

"We have the American nuclear deterrent, that has been agreed and I see no signs that this agreement will come to an end," Pistorius said on the fringes of NATO meetings in Brussels.