“Every investment in the confidence of the defender shortens the war,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an address to the participants of the special meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Professor Schwab, thank you for your very kind introduction.
President Brende,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I appreciate your willingness to hear answers to truly important questions. When will the war end? Is the Third world war possible? Is it time to negotiate with Putin?
The full-scale war in Europe has been ongoing for nearly two years. Counting the time since Russia’s illegal annexation of our Crimea, it’s been almost 10 years.
And for almost 10 years, Russia has been interfering in African countries, from Sudan to Mali.
The Syrian war, still bleeding because of Putin’s decision to prove something to the world, has been ongoing for almost 13 years.
In fact, one man has stolen at least 13 years of peace replacing them with pain, pain, pain and crises that impact the entire world.
Putin is trying to normalize what should have ended in the 20th century – mass deportations, cities and villages razed to the ground, and the terrifying feeling that the war may never end.
In fact, Putin embodies war. We all know that he is the sole reason why various wars and conflicts persist, and why all attempts to restore peace have failed. And he will not change. He will not change.
We must change. We all must change to the extent that the madness that resides in this man’s head or any other aggressor’s head will not prevail.
Putin is frank about what he wants, what he does, and who his targets are.
His answer to the duration of the war is always war, without an end. He wants it this way.
His answer to the limits of chaos in the world is the boundless support of terrorist forces. He enjoys conflicts that cause suffering to others.
His answer to calls for peace is supplying more and more weapons from North Korea and Iran.
Regimes like his exist as long as they wage wars.
And we – we all in the free world – exist as long as we can defend ourselves.
Full text of the address: Office of the President of Ukraine
