At Davos, Zelenskyy lashes out at Putin and presses allies to boost Ukraine’s fight
SWITZERLAND >> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came out swinging Tuesday against Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, while urging political and business leaders facing war fatigue in the West to enforce sanctions, help rebuild his country and advance the peace process.
Zelenskyy is trying to keep his country’s long and largely stalemated defense against Russia on the minds of political leaders, as Israel’s war with Hamas, which passed the 100day mark this week, siphons off much of the world’s attention and has sparked concerns about a wider conflict in the Middle East.
He sought to center Ukraine as a pillar in defense of democracies.
“Anyone thinks this is only about us, this is only about Ukraine, they are fundamentally mistaken,” Zelenskyy said in a speech at the Swiss ski resort.
“Putin embodies war,” he said, lashing out at the Kremlin leader for leveling cities and imposing “the terrifying feeling that the war may never end.” He also offered criticism for a world that told him not to worsen tensions ahead of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
“After Feb. 24th, nothing harmed our coalition more than this concept. Every ‘Don’t escalate’ to us, sounded like ‘You will prevail’ to Putin,” Zelenskyy said.
He thanked allies for sanctions on Moscow but urged them to ensure they work. He said he believed the European Union and U.S. would come through in “a matter of weeks” with more aid that has been held up by political infighting within his two biggest allies.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who along with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Zelenskyy in Davos, said Washington is determined to keep supporting Ukraine, and “we’re working very closely with Congress in order to do that.”
It was Zelenskyy’s first trip to Davos since the war began — he spoke by video in previous years — and he rushed between meetings with political and business elites. Surrounded by a large security contingent, he’s drawn the attention of media and others angling to meet him.
Putin, meanwhile, described calls for peace talks as an “attempt to force us to give up the gains we have made,” calling that “impossible.”
Speaking at a meeting of municipal officials from across Russia, he also described Zelenskyy’s “peace formula” as an effective ban on peace talks with Moscow because “it’s a set of demands banning a negotiation process. Well, they don’t want it, and so be it.”
Between a dizzying array of big-picture sessions about everything from artificial intelligence to climate change, leaders from Chinese Premier Li Qiang to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Qatar’s prime minister are giving their thoughts on the world’s biggest challenges and opportunities.