Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged political and business leaders gathering at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday to give more military aid to his country or risk Russia attacking other nations amid fears in Kyiv that the war is slipping off the top of the global agenda.
With much attention focused on conflict in the Middle East and Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Zelenskyy used the Davos stage to remind the world what is at stake in his country’s war against Russian invaders.
“If anyone thinks that this is only about us, this is only about Ukraine, they are fundamentally mistaken, Zelenskyy said. “Possible directions and even a timeline of a new Russian aggression beyond Ukraine becomes more and more obvious. … And if one must fight against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin together in the years ahead, isn’t it better to put an end to him and his war strategy now, while our brave men and women are already doing it?”
Air superiority
Zelenskyy’s speech was greeted with applause from delegates. But Ukraine is seeking more than allies’ approval.
“We must gain air superiority for Ukraine, just as we have gained superiority at the Black Sea. We can do it,” Zelenskyy said. “Partners know what is needed and in what quantities. This will allow progress on the ground.”
The Ukrainian president also urged the West to tighten sanctions on Moscow.
“It must be a strong decision this year when frozen Russian assets … will be directed towards defense against the Russian war and for reconstruction of Ukraine. Putin loves money above all. The more billions he and his oligarchs, friends and accomplices lose, the more likely he will regret starting this war,” Zelenskyy told delegates in Davos.
Moscow did not immediately respond to Zelenskyy’s comments. As Russia invests heavily in re-arming its forces following huge losses in Ukraine, Kyiv says it urgently needs new weapons and ammunition.
U.S. military assistance
Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress are blocking an emergency spending bill that includes around $50 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, insisting that it is tied to concessions on U.S. border security.
At a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy in Davos Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country’s support was “enduring.”
“We're determined to sustain our support in Ukraine, and we're working very closely with Congress in order to, to do that. I know our European colleagues are doing the same thing. So even as you succeed militarily against this Russian onslaught, that you also build Ukraine for the future, one that can stand strongly on its own two feet militarily, economic, democratically,” Blinken said.
Hungary veto
A $54 billion European Union aid package for Ukraine is also being blocked by Hungary. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc may seek to exclude Hungary’s vote at a summit next month.
“My personal priority is to have an agreement by 27 [EU member states]. If this is not possible, we are prepared for an agreement by 26. But I strongly support and prefer an agreement by 27,” von der Leyen said Tuesday.
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, said he wanted any aid package for Ukraine to be separated from regular bloc spending.
“We want financial assistance to Ukraine to be provided outside the EU budget. That's why we want to discuss the budget amendment separately and the assistance to Ukraine separately … it could end up that the financial resources that are due to individual nations end up in Ukraine,” Orban said at a press conference in Budapest Tuesday.
Amid wavering Western unity, Latvia — a close ally of Ukraine — said it’s time for a change of rhetoric.
“We always hear that we are going to support Ukraine as long as it is necessary, as long as it takes. I think we must change that rhetoric that we are going to support, and we will support Ukraine ’til the victory — and victory of Ukraine,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics told reporters in Davos.
