This Tuesday, January 16, Volodymyr Zelensky is expected at the Davos Forum – a first since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. After almost two years of war, Ukraine must remobilize its European and American allies.
Information to remember
⇒ Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory continue
⇒ Zelensky expected at the World Economic Forum
⇒ Switzerland will organize a “summit” on peace in Ukraine
Several Ukrainian drones neutralized by Russia
Russia said on Tuesday that it had neutralized several Ukrainian drones overnight over its border regions with Ukraine, describing these attacks as “terrorist”. “Five Ukrainian drones were destroyed and three others were intercepted over the Voronezh region and four more drones were intercepted over the Belgorod region,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
A little girl born in 2013 was injured by debris from a downed drone, which fell on her building, said the governor of the Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev.
Drone attacks on Russian territory, very far from the Ukrainian front, have increased since last summer when kyiv launched a major counter-offensive to liberate its occupied territories, which ultimately failed.
Zelensky at the Davos Forum
Volodymyr Zelensky is making this year, for the first time, a trip in person to the World Economic Forum in Davos, this Tuesday. The Ukrainian president leads his country’s delegation in person, although he had only intervened by video the previous two years. This time he will be in the official gallery at 1:15 p.m.
After almost two years of war, Ukraine must remobilize its allies, especially with the emergence of new conflicts, particularly in the Middle East: the war in Gaza and insecurity in the Red Sea will notably feature this year in the debates in Davos.
“There is a lot of uncertainty about aid from the United States and the EU,” lamented Penny Pritzker, United States special representative for the economic reconstruction of the country, on Monday.
Use of frozen Russian assets to help kyiv must be a “collective decision” by the G7
On the sidelines of the Forum, the United States special representative for the economic reconstruction of Ukraine, Penny Pritzker, estimated this Monday that the use of frozen Russian assets to help Kiev should be a “collective decision” of the G7 . As a reminder, Ukraine has asked its Western allies to seize the $300 billion in Russian assets frozen since the invasion of its country on February 24, 2022, to finance its reconstruction.
“I think there is enormous hope that Russian sovereign assets will become an easy source of financing,” Penny Pritzker said at Ukraine House, adding that the G7 had asked its ministers to study such a possibility.
The special envoy of French President Emmanuel Macron for the reconstruction of Ukraine, Pierre Heilbronn, recalled, during this conference, that two thirds of the 300 billion dollars were concentrated in Europe.
In December, the European Commission proposed to the 27 EU countries a two-step plan to use revenues generated by frozen Russian assets to partly finance Ukraine’s reconstruction. This subject divides EU member states, with several countries having expressed concern about Russia’s possible recourse and the risk of creating a precedent which could worry investors and give rise to a form of financial instability.
Switzerland will organize a “summit” on peace in Ukraine
Switzerland has agreed to organize a high-level “summit” on peace at Ukraine’s request, the presidents of the two countries announced Monday at a press conference in Kehrsatz, near the Swiss capital Bern. . “As for the countries that want to participate, we are open to everyone, to all countries in the world that respect our sovereignty and our territorial integrity. So we can deduce who will be invited,” declared Volodymyr Zelensky, suggesting that the Russia would not be welcome at this summit.
“We hope that this summit will give important energy to everything that has been discussed. And we hope that the end of the war will be just and the governance of justice will be restored. Switzerland is our partner in this” , he added.