What to expect as the 'Davos of Defense' kicks off in Munich with beefed up security

• Security forces descended on Munich, Germany on Friday as global leaders gathered for the city's annual security conference.
• Dubbed the "Davos of Defense," the Munich Security Conference will see an estimated 60 heads of state and over 85 government officials meet to discuss ongoing conflicts and potential future ones.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi are among the top-level delegates due to speak.

MUNICH, Germany — Security forces descended on Munich, Germany on Friday as global leaders gathered for the city's annual security conference, which this year looks likely to be among the most consequential in its 60-year history.

Dubbed the "Davos of Defense," the Munich Security Conference will see an estimated 60 heads of state and over 85 government officials meet for three days in the Bavarian city to discuss current and future global security issues.

Front and center this weekend will be the ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East — and the potential paths to resolution. Rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, NATO expansion, and the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House are also expected to be high on the agenda.

The specter of a second Trump presidency looms large over the event after he said last weekend that he would encourage Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" to NATO members that fail to meet their 2% defense spending target.

Still, Trump's support for the Kremlin was seemingly rebuffed Wednesday when Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would prefer a "more predictable" President Joe Biden to win the 2024 U.S. election.

Fittingly for a high-security forum, the event agenda was only released