Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Serhiy Taruta (independent), former head of the Donetsk regional administration, discussed his participation over the weekend at the Munich Security Conference (MSC).

Taruta said the chairman of the conference Wolfgang Ischinger opened the conference with a speech, titled "Post-order," calling the current situation an international challenge for ensuring security in the world following the refusal of the U.S. "to pay for all."

"The answer that we heard is that NATO is not a panacea and each [country] should depend on its own resources. This is why many EU countries, including those in Eastern Europe, are building up their armies, developing their defense production industries and are no longer counting on miracles from NATO. We need to conduct economic reforms in order to ensure Ukraine's prosperity," Taruta said.

He said Ischinger also suggested the U.S. join in the Normandy Four talks on ending Russian occupation of eastern Ukraine.

"I think this initiative is a good one. I discussed with Ischinger my plan on peacefully ending Russian occupation of eastern Donbas, the "Three Principles" plan, which I brought with me to the conference. On Saturday there was extensive discussion of the situation of Ukraine," Taruta said.

Taruta said U.S. participation in talks to end Russian occupation in eastern Ukraine will likely not begin in the near future. He said consultations are underway.

The MSC is an annual conference which is held in Munich (Germany) since 1962. It had been called the Conference on Military Affairs until 1993 and was held under the auspices of the Christian Social Union. It is financed by the government of Germany since 1998.