Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska has addressed world leaders and corporate executives at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss town of Davos.
Zelenska warned that not all of them are using their influence at a time when Russia’s invasion leaves children dying and a world struggling with food insecurity.
As the anniversary of the war nears, the Ukrainian first lady said that parents are in tears watching doctors trying to save their children and farmers are afraid to go back to their fields filled with explosive mines.
“We cannot allow a new Chernobyl to happen,” Zelenska noted, referring to the 1986 nuclear disaster.
“What you all have in common is that you are genuinely influential but there is something that separates you, namely that not all of you use this influence, or sometimes use it in a way that separates you even more.”
Olena Zelenska
The weeklong discussion of big ideas and backroom deal-making at Davos prioritizes global problems such as hunger, climate change and the slowing economy, but it is never clear how much concrete action emerges to help reach the World Economic Forum’s stated ambition of “improving the state of the world.”
“We are all internally convinced that there is no such global problem that humanity cannot solve. This is more important now when Russia’s aggression in Europe poses various challenges.”
Olena Zelenska
The war in Ukraine has killed thousands of civilians, displaced millions and affected food and fuel markets worldwide.
Ukraine and Russia had been key suppliers of wheat, barley and other food supplies to Africa, the Middle East and Asia where many are already going hungry.
With the war raising inflation and expanding food insecurity in developing nations, Zelenska called it “an insult to mankind and human nature to have mass starvation.”
According to the U.N. World Food Program, about 345 million people in 82 countries are facing acute food insecurity, up from 135 million in 53 countries before the pandemic and war in Ukraine.
The War Could Expand Beyond Ukraine’s Borders
Olena Zelenska warned that the war could expand beyond Ukraine’s borders and widen the crises but “unity is what brings peace back.”
Zelenska said “there are no day offs from war” and that “everyone in Ukraine has to risk their lives every day,” but added that she believed the world would unify for peace.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged the assembled executives and global leaders at Davos to keep aiding Ukraine.
After Zelenska’s address, Ursula von der Leyen stated that Ukraine wants to become a member of the European Union, and it is a perfect opportunity to take investment and reform to pave this way for Ukraine towards the European Union.
“And my call on you is; We need every helping hand on board. Ukraine deserves to have as much support as possible.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
While urging unity for Ukraine, von der Leyen unveiled a major clean tech industrial plan to compete with China and the United States as the 27-nation bloc seeks to stay a trailblazer in plotting a greener future.
Ursula von der Leyen added that the plan would make it easier to push through subsidies for green industries and inject funding into EU-wide projects to help reach its goal of climate neutrality by 2050. The bloc also would be more forceful in countering unfair trading practices.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will join the meetings via video on Wednesday to complement the in-person delegation of his wife and officials such as Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov.
READ ALSO: Scholz To Appoint Regional Official As Defense Minister
