Ukraine’s President Asks Davos Global Elite to Help Isolate Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told world leaders and business executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Monday that they faced a turning point following Russia’s invasion of his country — and that it was time to ratchet up sanctions against Moscow.

It is the first time world and business leaders have gathered at Davos since January 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic. They now operate in a vastly changed world faced with numerous challenges: the war in Ukraine, economic crises and food shortages.

Dressed not in the business uniform of the Davos elite but in the army fatigues of a wartime leader, Ukraine’s president addressed delegates by video link from Kyiv. He demanded “maximum sanctions” on Russia.

“An embargo on Russian oil, a complete blockade of all Russian banks, without exception. Total abandonment of the Russian IT sector and complete cessation of trade with the aggressor… do not wait for Russia’s use of special weapons, chemical, biological, God forbid, nuclear,” Zelenskyy urged the audience in Davos.

“You need to set a precedent for the complete exit of all foreign businesses from the Russian market so that your brands are not associated with war crimes and that war criminals do not use your offices, accounts, and goods in their bloody interests.”.

Russian UN Envoy Quits in Protest of Ukraine Invasion

A veteran Russian diplomat to the United Nations office in Geneva resigned Monday because he said he was “so ashamed” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine three months ago.

In a rare but not unprecedented protest within the Russian diplomatic corps, Boris Bondarev, 41, handed in his resignation in a letter addressed to Ambassador Gennady Gatilov. He then released a scathing denunciation of the Russian war effort.

“The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people,” Bondarev said, “but also perhaps the most serious crime against the people of Russia, with a bold letter Z (signifying support for the war) crossing out all hopes and prospects for a prosperous free society in our country.”

Bondarev, who has focused on Russian disarmament issues in Geneva, contended “that those who conceived this war want only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail in yachts comparable in tonnage and costs to the entire Russian navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity.”

Russian Gets Life Imprisonment in Ukraine War Crimes Trial

A Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a civilian was sentenced Monday by a Ukrainian court to life in prison — the maximum — amid signs the Kremlin may, in turn, put on trial some of the captured fighters who held out at Mariupol’s steelworks.

Meanwhile, in a rare public expression of opposition to the war from the ranks of the Russian elite, a veteran Kremlin diplomat resigned and sent a scathing letter to foreign colleagues in which he said of the invasion, “Never have I been so ashamed of my country as on Feb. 24.”

Also, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “maximum” sanctions against Russia in a video address to world leaders and executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

And on the battlefield, heavy fighting raged in the Donbas in the east, where Moscow’s forces had stepped up their bombardment. Cities not under Russian control were constantly shelled, and one Ukrainian military official said Russian forces targeted civilians trying to flee.

In the first of what could be a multitude of war crimes trials inside Ukraine, Russian Vadim Shishimarin, 21, was sentenced for the killing of a 62-year-old man who was shot in the head in a village in the northeastern Sumy region in the early days of the war.

Pentagon: 20 Countries Sending New Security Aid to Ukraine

About 20 countries are sending new security assistance packages for Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said after concluding the second meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

“Many countries are donating critically needed artillery ammunition, coastal defence systems, tanks and other armoured vehicles. Others came forward with new commitments for training Ukraine’s forces and sustaining its military systems,” Austin told reporters at the Pentagon Monday.

Denmark said it would provide Ukrainian forces with a harpoon launcher and missiles, while the Czech Republic donated attack helicopters, tanks and rocket systems.

Monday’s meeting included 47 nations which participated virtually, according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, the top U.S. military officer. Austria, Colombia and Ireland were among the new participants.

The next Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting will be held on June 15 in Brussels.

“Everyone here understands the stakes of this war, and they stretch far beyond Europe,” Austin said.

New Australian Prime Minister Sworn in after Election Win

Australia’s new prime minister was sworn in Monday before flying to Japan for talks with US President Joe Biden and other world leaders. Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese won Saturday’s general election, ending almost a decade of conservative government.

Albanese’s left-of-centre government faces key foreign policy challenges, including an increasingly fractious relationship with China.

The new prime minister said bilateral ties with Beijing are “difficult.” They have been strained in recent years over various geopolitical disputes.

Beijing recently signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, a hitherto traditional ally of Australia in the Pacific. That has prompted fears of greater Chinese expansionism in the region. Labour had accused the then conservative government of neglecting Australia’s neighbours in the Pacific.

Analysts expect the new Albanese government to focus its diplomatic efforts in South-East Asia on boosting alliances to counter China’s assertiveness.

Albanese will attend Tuesday’s Quad summit in Tokyo with Biden and the leaders of India and Japan. Labour’s deputy leader Richard Marles told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the unprecedented nature of Beijing’s leadership creates difficulty..

German Chancellor Scholz Kicks off Africa Trip in Senegal

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is interested in a major gas exploitation project in Senegal as he began a three-nation visit to Africa on Sunday that also is focused on the geopolitical consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Senegal is believed to have significant deposits of natural gas along its border with Mauritania at a time when Germany and other European countries are trying to reduce their dependence on importing Russian gas.

“We have begun exchanges, and we will continue our efforts at the level of experts because it is our wish to achieve progress,” Scholz said at a joint news briefing with Senegalese President Macky Sall.

BP is leading the gas project off the coast of Senegal, and the first barrels are not expected until next year.

This week’s trip marks Scholz’s first to Africa since becoming chancellor nearly six months ago. Two of the countries he is visiting — Senegal and South Africa — have been invited to attend the group of 7 summit in Germany at the end of June.

Participants there will try to find a common position toward Russia, which was kicked out of the then-Group of Eight following its 2014 seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.

Leaders at the G-7 summit will also address the threat of climate change. Several G-7 countries, including Germany and the United States, signed a ‘just energy transition partnership’ with South Africa last year to help the country wean itself off heavily polluting coal.

A similar agreement is in the works with Senegal, where Germany has supported the construction of a solar farm.

German officials also said Scholz would make a stop in Niger, a country that, like its neighbours, has long been battling Islamic extremists.

No Evidence Monkeypox Virus Has Mutated, Says WHO

The World Health Organization does not have evidence that the monkeypox virus has mutated, a senior executive at the U.N. agency said on Monday, noting the infectious disease that is endemic in the west and central Africa has tended not to change.

Rosamund Lewis, head of the smallpox secretariat, which is part of the WHO Emergencies Programme, told a briefing that mutations are typically lower with this virus, although genome sequencing of cases will help inform understanding of the current outbreak.

The more than 100 suspected and confirmed cases in the recent outbreak in Europe and North America have not been severe, the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonoses lead and technical lead on COVID-19, Maria van Kerkhove said.

“This is a containable situation,” she said.

According to the WHO, the outbreaks are atypical, as they occur in countries where the virus does not regularly circulate. Scientists are seeking to understand the origin of the cases and whether anything about the virus has changed.

Biden Launches Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

US President Joe Biden announced on Monday the launch of the IndoPacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which includes a dozen Indo-Pacific countries and is designed to provide a counterweight against Chinese economic clout in the region.

“The future of the 21st Century economy is going to largely be written in the Indo-Pacific — in our region,” Biden said during IPEF’s launch event. “We’re writing the new rules.”

The countries joining the launch are Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Biden was joined in person by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch event in Tokyo and virtually by the others.

IPEF is seen as a key step in the U.S. effort to re-engage Indo-Pacific nations on trade more than five years after the U.S. withdrew from a regional comprehensive trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership known as TPP.

“The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is part of President Biden’s commitment to putting American families and workers in the centre of economic and foreign policy while strengthening our ties with allies and partners for the purpose of increasing shared prosperity and for the purpose of defining the coming decades for technological innovation in the global economy,” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Sunday.

The group represents 40 per cent of the world GDP, Sullivan said, adding that other countries could join in the future. There are no market access or tariff reduction provisions in the framework, as in previous free trade agreements — trade incentives that countries in the region desire. Even as Japan said it welcomes IPEF, it is signalling that it wants more.

“Japan welcomes the launch of the Indo-Pacific economic framework, IPEF, by Biden and will participate and cooperate in this initiative,” said Kishida in his joint press conference with Biden earlier Monday. “Regarding the TPP, we are truly hoping for a return of the United States.”