Zelenskyy Begs For Support At World Economic Forum

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, seems to be getting a little desperate, as he begged for additional military support for his country while appearing at the World Economic Forum this week.

The annual meeting, which was held in Switzerland, was attended by some of the top government officials from the European Union, Middle East, China and the United States.

During the first day of the meeting, Zelenskyy sat down with some of these world leaders as well as corporate executives, and spoke with them about tackling conflicts such as the one going on between his country and Russia, as well as how to best embrace technologies such as artificial intelligence.

A major goal of Zelenskyy’s is to keep his country’s defense efforts at the top of world leaders’ minds, as a lot of focus has been shifted over to Israel’s war with terrorist group Hamas in Gaza over the last few months. This is particularly true as many countries are concerned that the war there could eventually expand into other regions of the MIddle East.

At a session called “CEOs for Ukraine,” which was an invitation-only event, Zelenskyy said to those in attendance:

“It is important that you stand with us. I thank you for your support. It is very important to be here, to boost investment in Ukraine and support our economy.”

This was the first time that Zelenskyy has attended this conference in person. He has spoken via video in the past.

Some of the other big attractions of the week were conversations with the two prime ministers of Jordan and Qatar, as well as speeches made by Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser in the U.S.; Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission; and Li Qiang, the premier of China.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, pointed out that the fact that Houthi rebels from Yemen were attacking ships in the Red Sea was only “focusing on the symptoms and not treating the real issue” that exists between Israel and terrorist organization Hamas.

He said that a solution to the war would only be possible with work and input from both sides, adding:

“We should focus on the main conflict in Gaza. And as soon as it’s defused, I believe everything else will be defused.”

He also said that military confrontations wouldn’t “contain” the attacks by the Houthis. As he explained:

“I think that what we have right now in the region is a recipe of escalation everywhere.”

Li focused his speech on trying to get other countries to make investments in China, saying that “we are opening wide our embrace.”

He added that the economy in China is expected to have grown roughly 5.2% in 2023, which would exceed the target of 5%.

Since COVID-19 restrictions were first put in place, China’s economy has struggled. Some of that has to do with a high unemployment rate among the country’s youth, as well as the fact that the property market there has been overbuilt and imploded as a result.

Li further criticized the restrictions that the U.S. has put on China, which have hampered the country’s ability to purchase advanced computer chips that are needed for use in washing machines, cellphones and a plethora of other things.