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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged allies to boost funding for his country, arguing that Kyiv’s ability to fight back against the Russian invasion is also in their own security interests.
Ukraine’s president told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that anyone who believed Vladimir Putin’s war was only about Ukraine was “fundamentally mistaken”, adding that the Russian leader embodies war without an end.
The solution was not a frozen conflict in Ukraine, he said. “Putin is a predator who is not satisfied with frozen products.”
His Davos pitch comes at a time when western aid is running perilously low after decision makers in Washington and Brussels were unable to renew a total of $110bn for the next few years. Russia, meanwhile, has ramped up its aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities, as well as its domestic arms production and imports of drones and missiles from Iran and North Korea.
“If anyone thinks this is only about us, this is only about Ukraine, they are fundamentally mistaken. Possible directions and even . . . a new Russian aggression beyond Ukraine become more and more obvious,” Zelenskyy warned. “Strengthen our economy and we will strengthen your security.”
Zelenskyy met government and business leaders in the Swiss resort, including JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon, Blackstone Group chair Stephen Schwarzman and Lakshmi Mittal, founder of steel giant ArcelorMittal.
He struck a particularly optimistic note regarding the EU’s delayed financing package, saying he had seen positive signs on this front.
EU officials are increasingly confident that they can strike a deal on February 1 to allocate €50bn of fresh funding to Ukraine, either through concessions to Hungary that would allow the use of the bloc’s shared budget, or an off-budget “plan B” arrangement that would bypass Budapest.
Zelenskyy said his country was still counting on Congress to unlock the latest US financial package, as concerns in Kyiv and allied capitals are mounting about Donald Trump returning to the White House following elections in November. The former president is campaigning on halting support for Ukraine and “ending the war” with Russia.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who also spoke at Davos on Tuesday, said Ukraine could prevail in the war, but warned that the allies needed to “continue to empower their resistance”.
“Ukrainians need predictable financing throughout 2024 and beyond. They need a sufficient and sustained supply of weapons to defend Ukraine and regain its rightful territory. They need capabilities to deter future attacks by Russia.”
A Ukrainian counteroffensive last year failed to recapture significant territories occupied by Russia and Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said that, in terms of the military campaign, “the reality is that, of course, there are reasons to be concerned”.
“The big [Ukrainian] spring offensive didn’t give the results we all hoped for,” said the head of the military alliance. “But despite these difficulties, there are reasons for optimism,” he added, calling for countries “to continue to deliver the weapons”.
A meeting of national security advisers from more than 80 countries met in Davos on Sunday with a Ukrainian delegation to discuss Kyiv’s proposed peace plan to end the war, which includes the demand for Russia to fully withdraw from the country’s territory.
While western delegates said the active participation of officials from major developing countries such as Brazil and South Africa was a positive signal, they admitted widespread divergence among delegates on the war, with many non-western states calling for talks with Russia to begin immediately.
Zelenskyy has said that his government has begun work on organising a summit of world leaders to discuss his peace plan in Switzerland as soon as possible. Ukraine’s proposal is a non-starter for Moscow, as it calls for the full withdrawal of Russian forces. Putin has recently vowed to press on with the invasion until all of his goals — including Kyiv’s capitulation — are achieved.
