Zelensky asks in Davos for the end of trade with Russia and demands more weapons

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskycalled this Monday on the first day of the Davos Economic Forum the end of any type of trade with Russia and the “maximum” of possible sanctions, while he returned to claim weapons for his country.

Three months after the Russian invasion of Ukrainethe war and its consequences for the world economy are the focus of the start of the forum this Monday, which after two years of the pandemic brings together the world’s economic and political elites again in the small Swiss ski resort.

LOOK: Mariupol: the 80 days that left a flourishing city in ruins

“That’s what the sanctions should be, they should be maximum … And I think there are no such sanctions against Russia yet,” Zelensky said. in a videoconference intervention before a full room that rose to applaud him.

Western countries impose economic sanctions on Russia. But while the United States and the United Kingdom gave up importing oil, the European Union has not yet reached an agreement on the issue due to the dependence of some of its members on Russian oil and gas.

LOOK: Ukraine will have to wait “probably 15 or 20 years” to join the European Union, says France

“There should be an embargo on Russian oil, all Russian banks should be blocked, no exceptions, the Russian technology sector should be abandoned. There should be no trade with Russia.” assured the president.

A large Ukrainian delegation, including members of the government and parliament, is in Switzerland to voice the demands of the country at war since the Russian invasion on February 24.

“Ukraine needs all the weapons that we have asked for, not just those that have been provided,” he said. Zelensky in his speech, and assured that if he had obtained them in February “the result would have been tens of thousands of lives saved.”

LOOK: Ukraine asks for MLRS rocket launchers and heavy weapons to unblock the Black Sea

In this regard, Anastasia Radina, a Ukrainian lawmaker, told AFP that her country needs “NATO-style” weapons such as tanks, air defense systems and fighter jets.

“We’ve been at war for three months, tens of thousands of lives lost, and we’re still discussing whether we need fighter jets. Frankly, it’s outrageous.” assured.

Western sanctions against Moscow over the war led the WEF, the body organizing the forum, to exclude all Russian participants, who for years were omnipresent.

To symbolically replace the Russia House (Russia House) – a crowded place enabled every year in Davos which concentrated all the activity in the country–, several Ukrainian officials inaugurated the Russia War Crimes House on Monday.

The place, enabled in one of the houses of the small Swiss town, brings together a photographic exhibition of the atrocities attributed to the Russian forces, an initiative of the Ukrainian government and a patron of the country, Victor Pinchuk.

Inflation and food crisis

The war has fully impacted the world economy and its consequences are being felt throughout the planet, mainly in the increase in energy and food prices.

In a report published this Monday to coincide with the opening of the forum, the NGO Oxfam predicts that 263 million people will fall into extreme poverty this year, that is, one million every 33 hours.

“During the pandemic a new billionaire was created every 30 hours and now in 2022 every 33 hours a million people fall into extreme poverty,” denounced Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam, which calls for “urgently” taxing the rich.

Like Oxfam, many NGOs are trying to use the meeting to appeal to the conscience of business leaders, states and governments.

Latin America, whose presence has been gaining strength in recent years at the forum, will be very present in the debates this week, with announced interventions by the presidents of Colombia, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic and specific sessions on the economy of the region, which this year it should grow less than 2%, according to forecasts by ECLAC, a UN body.

Source: Elcomercio

Deshawn