DAVOS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came out swinging Tuesday against Russian President Vladimir Putin at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and even had a harsh tone for his allies as war fatigue grows, pressing political and corporate leaders to enforce sanctions, help rebuild his country and advance the peace process.
Zelensky 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 100-day mark this week, has siphoned off much of the world’s attention and sparked concerns about a wider conflict in the Middle East.
“Anyone thinks this is only about us, this is only about Ukraine, they are fundamentally mistaken,” he said in a speech in English at the Swiss ski resort. “Possible directions and even timeline of a new Russian aggression beyond Ukraine become more and more obvious.”
“Putin embodies war” and will not change, he said. While lashing out at Putin for mass deportations, leveling cities and “the terrifying feeling that the war may never end,” he also offered pointed criticism for a world that told him not to escalate 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,” Zelensky said.
He thanked allies for each package of sanctions on Moscow but urged them to ensure they work. Russia, for instance, has found workarounds for imports of banned Western products that still appear on shelves.
It is Zelensky’s first trip to Davos since the war began after speaking by video in previous years, and he rushed between meetings with corporate executives and world leaders. Surrounded by a large security contingent, he’s drawn the attention of media and others seeking to meet him.
Conversations with the prime ministers of Qatar and Jordan will bookend the day’s most visible events, with speeches by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in between.
Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani of Qatar said the concentration on the attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi militia — which have spurred retaliatory strikes by the US and Britain — was “focusing on the symptoms and not treating the real issue” of Israel’s war with Hamas.
“We should focus on the main conflict in Gaza. And as soon as it’s defused, I believe everything else will be defused,” he said, adding that a two-state solution was required to end the conflict.
Sheikh Mohammed also warned that a military confrontation “will not contain” the Houthi attacks.
“I think that what we have right now in the region is a recipe of escalation everywhere,” he added.
Li, the Chinese premier, focused on pitching the country as a place to invest, noting that “we are opening wide our embrace.” He said China’s economy is estimated to have grown about 5.2 percent last year, exceeding the target it had set of 5 percent.
China’s economy, for decades a leading engine of global expansion, has struggled since COVID-19 restrictions, with high youth unemployment and the implosion of its overbuilt property market.
Li gave veiled criticism of US restrictions on China’s ability to buy advanced computer chips used in everything from cellphones to washing machines.
“Technology’s achievements should be used to benefit all humankind and it should not be used as a method to limit, to suppress another country,” Li said.
Von der Leyen reiterated that the EU doesn’t want to break from Beijing — one of its most important trade partners — but ease the risks of relying too heavily on it because “we have issues when it comes to access to the market, when it comes to a level playing field, when it comes to economic security.”
She noted China’s export controls on metals used in computer chips, solar cells and more.
For the US, Sullivan said no when The Associated Press asked whether he would meet with China’s delegation as he headed into talks with Zelensky and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Zelensky, once reticent about leaving his country, has recently gone on a whirlwind tour to rally support for Ukraine amid donor fatigue in the West and concerns that former US President Donald Trump — who touted having good relations with Putin — might return to the White House next year following his commanding win Monday in the Iowa caucuses.
Zelensky hopes to parlay the high visibility of the event into a bully pulpit to showcase Ukraine’s pressing needs, and allies will be lining up: Corporate chiefs including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and officials like von der Leyen learned in multiple gatherings what support and investment was needed to help rebuild Ukraine.
“It’s time for us, for Ukrainian companies, for international companies to rebuild (the) Ukrainian economy,” Maxim Timchenko, CEO of Ukrainian energy company DTEK said after the session. “To rely on ourselves. To build a future for Ukraine.”
In her speech, Von der Leyen painted an optimistic view of the war in Ukraine despite the battlefield stalemate. She said Russia has “lost half of its military capabilities,” while Ukraine regained half the ground it had originally lost early in the invasion.
A day earlier, Zelensky stopped in Switzerland’s capital, Bern, where President Viola Amherd pledged her country would work with Ukraine to help organize a “peace summit” for Ukraine.
In his speech at Davos, he invited every leader who respects and international law to join, saying “peace must be the answer.”
The theme of the gathering is “rebuilding trust,” and it comes as that sentiment has been fraying globally: Wars in the Middle East and Europe have increasingly split the world into different camps.
At Davos, Zelensky lashes out at Putin and urges support for Ukraine’s fight
https://arab.news/rt8df
At Davos, Zelensky lashes out at Putin and urges support for Ukraine’s fight
- Zelensky is trying to keep his country’s long and largely stalemated defense against Russia on the minds of political leaders
- He thanked allies for each package of sanctions on Moscow but urged them to ensure they work
More than 100 dead in torrential rain and floods across southern Africa
- South Africa has reported at least 19 deaths in two of its northern provinces following heavy rains
- Tourists and staff members were evacuated this week by helicopter from flooded camps
JOHANNESBURG: Torrential rains and flooding have killed more than 100 people in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and authorities warned Friday that more severe weather was expected across several countries in southern Africa.
South Africa has reported at least 19 deaths in two of its northern provinces following heavy rains that began last month and led to severe flooding.
Tourists and staff members were evacuated this week by helicopter from flooded camps to other areas in the renowned Kruger National Park, which is closed to visitors while parts of it are inaccessible because of washed out roads and bridges, South Africa’s national parks agency said.
In neighboring Mozambique, the Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction said 103 people had died in an unusually severe rainy season since late last year. Those deaths were from various causes including electrocution from lightning strikes, drowning in floods, infrastructure collapse caused by the severe weather and cholera, the institute said.
The worst flooding in Mozambique has been in the central and southern regions, where more than 200,000 people have been affected, thousands of homes have been damaged, while tens of thousands face evacuation, the World Food Program said.
Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency said that 70 people have died and more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed in heavy rains since the beginning of the year, while infrastructure including schools, roads and bridges collapsed.
Flooding has also hit the island nation of Madagascar off the coast of Africa as well as Malawi and Zambia. Authorities in Madagascar said 11 people died in floods since late November.
The United States’ Famine Early Warning System said flooding was reported or expected in at least seven southern African nations, possibly due to the presence of the La Nina weather phenomenon that can bring heavy rains to parts of southeastern Africa.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited flood-stricken areas in the northern Limpopo province on Thursday and said that region had received around 400 millimeters (more than 15 inches) of rain in less than a week. He said that in one district he visited “there are 36 houses that have just been wiped away from the face of the Earth. Everything is gone ... the roofs, the walls, the fences, everything.”
The flooding occurred in the Limpopo and Mpumalanaga provinces in the north, and the South African Weather Service issued a red-level 10 alert for parts of the country for Friday, warning of more heavy rain and flooding that poses a threat to lives and could cause widespread infrastructure damage.
The huge Kruger wildlife park, which covers some 22,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles) across the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, has been impacted by severe flooding and around 600 tourists and staff members have been evacuated from camps to high-lying areas in the park, Kruger National Park spokesperson Reynold Thakhuli said.
He couldn’t immediately say how many people there were in the park, which has been closed to visitors after several rivers burst their banks and flooded camps, restaurants and other areas. The parks agency said precautions were being taken and no deaths or injuries had been reported at Kruger.
The South African army sent helicopters to rescue other people trapped on the roofs of their houses or in trees in northern parts of the country, it said. An army helicopter also rescued border post officers and police officers stranded at a flooded checkpoint on the South Africa-Zimbabwe border.
Southern Africa has experienced a series of extreme weather events in recent years, including devastating cyclones and a scorching drought that caused a food crisis in parts of a region that often suffers food shortages.
The World Food Program said more than 70,000 hectares (about 173,000 acres) of crops in Mozambique, including staples such as rice and corn, have been waterlogged in the current flooding, worsening food insecurity for thousands of small-scale farmers who rely on their harvests for food.
