Zelenskyy seeks help to rebuild
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the World Economic Forum that it has the chance to fund the biggest reconstruction effort since World War II and that delays in financing and arms supplies had cost ‘‘tens of thousands of lives’’.
Appearing by video link at Davos on Monday, local time, Zelenskyy, 44, said that one lesson from the first three months of the war had been that ‘‘support to the country under attack is more valuable the sooner it is provided’’.
‘‘If we received [money, weapons and more political support] in February, the result would be tens of thousands of lives saved,’’ he said. ‘‘This is why Ukraine needs all the weapons we ask for. There is a cost of $5 billion a month.’’ Kyiv estimates that this sum would cover government services and keep its economy functioning.
Zelenskyy gave the keynote address to a conference at which President Vladimir Putin had been due to speak. Russian officials are banned this year for the first time since the Cold War.
Zelenskyy called for an immediate oil embargo on Russia, punitive measures against all its banks and the shunning of its technology sector, adding that all foreign companies should leave Russia. Although America, Britain and Canada have moved to ban Russian oil and gas, the EU has been divided over such measures.
The 2500 delegates and 50 world leaders at Davos include Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of Nato, and John Kerry, the US climate envoy.
‘‘This is a moment when brute force may rule the world,’’ Zelenskyy said. ‘‘If so, there will be no reason for meetings in Davos.’’
The Ukrainian economy had sustained damage costing more than half a trillion dollars to its industries and infrastructure, Zelenskyy said. Ukraine is offering countries and companies that fund its reconstruction ‘‘patronage’’ over geographical areas and industries. Switzerland will host a conference in Lugano in July to help to raise funds for the reconstruction, attracting international donors.
Separately, at a televised meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin told President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, that the Russian economy was doing well despite Western sanctions. – The Times