27 May 2022 09:00

Politics

Economy

Davos-2022: How Kuleba asked to shut up, and the German ambassador showed a snail

Author

Olexandra Zakharova

The World Economic Forum 2022 in Switzerland has shifted its focus from the traditional themes of climate, green energy, and equality to the war in Ukraine.

has already reported that on May 23, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the guests of Davos and explained what awaits Europe and the world if Ukraine falls. But there were other interesting speeches and quotes.

Break for a the call and advice to "shut your mouths"

More attention in Davos, in addition to Ze's appeal, was drawn by the statements of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

He frankly picked to pieces the tricky questions of Western journalists, laughed in response to a question about expectations from Germany and assured that Ukraine was stronger than everyone thought.

Kuleba also surprised the media by interrupting the press conference and leaving the room for a few minutes to answer the call.

The presenter even joked that 99% Zelenskyy phoned the Minister and advised the journalists to "reflect on the questions" taking advantage of the pause.

Also, when he heard that a German journalist was going ask a question, the diplomat jokingly exclaimed:

"Oh no, don't ask me about weapons from Germany!"

However, Kuleba's words regarding the proposals regularly heard on the sidelines to lift sanctions from Russia in order to save the world from a food crisis and hunger were really harsh.

"Before saying that sanctions can be lifted to save children from starvation somewhere in the world, come to Ukraine. Look at the children’s tortured dead bodies. Talk to parents whose children were raped by Russian soldiers and shut your mouths!" he said.

Kuleba also stressed that four letters could help Ukraine to:

repel the Russian offensive in Donbas;
thwart Russia's plans to annex Kherson;
stop torture, rape and other horrendous violations of human rights by Russians in the occupied territories;
unblock exports and prevent a global food crisis.

"These four letters are: MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems)," he wrote on Twitter.

We have compiled the most interesting theses from the press conference, statements and interviews by Kuleba. Among the topics that Ukraone’s chief diplomat focused on were weapons, sanctions, food security, and guarantees of protection for the country.

Reproach for the nuclear weapon and new guarantees

Photo: weforum.org

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's idea of a new security architecture in Europe and the world must be implemented as soon as possible.

"A new security architecture is needed, and it should fulfill the item on security for Ukraine. In 1994, we gave up our third nuclear arsenal in the world, but instead of guarantees, we received promises that never worked."

NATO integration is proceeding slowly, and although it is still in Ukraine's foreign policy, guarantees are needed here and now.

"If the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine is not resolved one way or another, there will always be the risk of war in Europe, and as long as Russia remains Russia."

"Decision" on ports from Russia

Among the Western media questions the head of the Foreign Ministry had to answer to were those that caused at least surprise. Although after Zelenskyy’s interview with Italian TV, it’s not so strong anymore.

For example, again, the Italian media demanded that Kuleba explain what Ukraine and the allies plan to do to unblock Ukrainian ports, because the Russian Federation had offered a solution.

"When did Russia offer a solution? Corridors? No, no, no. The only thing I heard from Russia on the subject is that Russia will agree to end the blockade of Ukrainian ports if sanctions are lifted from it. I have not heard about safe corridors from Russia."

On the one hand, there are issues of food security, on the other — Odesa’s security issues.

"How to garantee that at the moment when we establish this safe corridor and the entrance to the port is cleared of mines, Russia will not violate the agreements at night or early in the morning and its warships will not enter the port and attack Odesa?"

This is a security issue not only for Ukraine, but also for those countries whose ships and ship companies will be involved in this.

"You don’t want your ships to become hostages of Russia near Odesa on the sea, are you?"

There are a lot of security risks. But Ukraine is ready to work constructively with them. Whatever the decisions, they will always run into the question: can Russia be trusted?

Is there a chance for diplomacy with Russia

All wars end in diplomacy. The only question is what the stance of countries will be when they get on the diplomatic stage.

"Now we do not see Russia's readiness to negotiate. If you want to resolve a conflict diplomatically, you don't send thousands of tanks and artillery."

$5 billion a month and Ukraine’s collapse

Kuleba was asked how close Ukraine is to economic collapse if it does not get the $5 billion a month that Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about in his address.

Everyone is constantly waiting for a collapse in Ukraine, but the collapse does not happen.

"A couple of days before Russia had attacked Ukraine, there was a serious meeting with serious people from serious countries. All of them are friends of Ukraine. And they tried to estimate different scenarios. Their conclusion was the following: Ukraine will not survive — it will fall somewhere in 3-7 days.

The same, according to Kuleba, is with the economy — Ukraine is stronger than anyone thinks. But $5 billion is really needed to maintain macroeconomic stability. This issue will be resolved through three sources:

EU support;
international financial organizations;
USA.

"It is time to speed up the procedures and regulation allowing not only the freezing of Russian assets, but also their transfer. Because Russia has to pay for the damage it has done."

Successes after Davos: Weapons and sanctions

The successes of the negotiations on the Davos sidelines are obvious.

"Mathematically, I will arrive in Kyiv before new weapons and new sanctions. But this is a political process and it takes time."

Some of the weapons that were discussed in Davos will be on their way to Ukraine very soon, while it will take time for the EU to be able to agree on a sixth package of sanctions.

"I'm more concerned about the prospect of a sixth package of sanctions than about weapons."

Expectations from Germany: Laughter amid diplomacy

At first, Kuleba sighed, then laughed, but finally he mastered himself and answered the questions of a German journalist about the expectations from Berlin.

Ukraine welcomes every effort made by the German government. For example, efforts to find heavy weapons it can share with Ukraine to help Kyiv defend itself.
Among the weapons that Ukraine would like to get from Berlin are the Marder infantry fighting vehicle and the German Leopard tank. But so far this has not been the case so far. Now Ukrainian officers are training on the Panzerhaubitze 2000 (a self-propelled howitzer gun from the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann concern).

"There is also a saga with Gepards — you need some popcorn to listen to it to the end, there are some other issues that we shared with Germany. We are waiting for an answer about how real this is."

Kyiv does not expect Germany to be the top country in supporting Ukraine with heavy weapons.

"Just let's be honest: if we don't get heavy weapons, we will be killed. Believe me".

Every day, while every country decides whether to send weapons to Ukraine or not, people are being killed. If Ukraine does not get all the heavy weapons it needs, it will cost more death and destruction.

"We are very honest about this. From time to time we are criticized for pushing too hard, but sorry, if your people were dying every day in such numbers, I'm sure Germany would push even harder. By no means do I wish the German people to go through all that we are going through, don't get me wrong."

Message from Ambassador Melnyk with a snail

Photo: twitter.com/MelnykAndrij

By the way, Kuleba is not the only diplomat who is annoyed by the speed of Berlin's assistance with heavy weapons. In particular, during the Davos days, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk posted the following message on Twitter:

"German weapons for Ukraine are on their way" 🤦‍♂️ Just got a message in WhatsApp from a member of the Kyiv government. Well. Russia must not win the war," he wrote.

At the same time, he accompanied the message with a picture of a snail slowly dragging a bullet on its shell.

Unacceptable peace plans

Kuleba was asked about the peace plan from the allies, in particular his Italian counterpart, and whether Ukraine could accept it.

Ukraine welcomes all kinds of plans that do not provide for establishing another demarcation line and any concessions regarding the territorial integrity, as well as the sovereignty of Ukrainian territories.

"As I said many times before, we already had our own Minsk, we already had the demarcation line, endless discussions in the trilateral contact group, and this brought us to where we are. We don't want to make the same mistake again."

Not a single plan providing for the freezing of the current situation will be supported by Ukraine.

"We welcome every effort to find a political diplomatic solution. But what we see now on the ground and in the Kremlin’s decisions is that they are focused on war, not diplomacy."

Russia can pause the fire only to save itself from losing the war.

Bullying from Russia and accusing victim

Ukraine has no preconditions for restarting negotiations with the Russian Federation, but Russia does not send any signals and messages that should be discussed.

"If Russia does as it did in the first month, throwing papers on the table and saying: take this and sign it — then these are not agreements, this is not diplomacy, this is bullying. And that's something we can't accept."

CNBC senior anchor and international correspondent Hadley Gamble asked Kuleba what he thinks about statements by some Eastern politicians that Zelenskyy is a criminal for continuing to wage war on Putin, and whether the whole world should pay Ukraine's unwillingness to surrender territories.

"One needs to be a political pervert, accusing Ukraine of continuing to fight against the country that attacked it and against the army that committed indescribable atrocities in Ukraine."

"It's the same as if you see a perpetrator and a victim who is fighting for survival. And you blame the victim for fighting too hard."

How long Ukraine’s recovery will take

The timeline for Ukraine’s recovery will depend on two things: the amount of money raised and the effectiveness of implementing relevant projects. Maybe 5, 10, 20 years — it all depends on these two factors.

"The challenge will be how to bring people back to regions close to Russian borders, if they know that life could end at any second if Russia decides to attack again."

Is the end of the war in sight?

"One of my favorite sayings: if you see a light at the end of a tunnel, make sure it's not the light from an oncoming train. So there is always something in sight, but I'm not sure if it's the end or an oncoming train."

On war for identity

"Even if the whole world focuses on another catastrophe or another war, Ukraine will have to continue the fight, no matter what the cost is, because this is a war for our existence as a nation, for our identity."

Ursula von der Leyen: Putin came from another century

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also dedicated her speech in Davos to Ukraine.

She stressed that Putin, by unleashing the war, forced Davos, who usually focused on climate, globalization, digitalization, and unemployment, to talk about how to help Ukraine win and save its state:

"The leader of Russian aggression against Ukraine comes straight from another century, treating millions of people not as people, but as a faceless population, and trying to trample on the aspirations of an entire nation with tanks."

She added that Putin's aggression must become a strategic failure. Europe will help Ukraine rise from the ashes with a reconstruction platform, and the EU countries will finally get rid of dependence on Russian energy carriers (both with the help of LNG from the United States and with the help of green energy).

Photo: weforum.org

In addition, Davos could help Africa become less dependent on grain supplies from other continents, thus preventing future food crises.

Ursula von der Leyen also said that the EU had offered Ukraine more than 10 billion euros of macro-financial assistance.

100,000 NATO troops without escalation

For his part, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the brutal war of conquest against Ukraine had shattered the peace in Europe and had led to the historical expansion of the Alliance.

At the same time, he believes that NATO should both provide support to Ukraine and prevent the escalation of the war.

He admitted that Russia's February 24 invasion was part of a multi-year pattern in which the Kremlin had used military force to achieve its political goals. Among the examples, Stoltenberg named the destruction of Grozny, the invasion of Georgia, the annexation of Crimea, and the bombing of Aleppo.

Regarding NATO’s plans, the Secretary General noted that the Alliance would increase defense spending, strengthen the eastern flank, and put about 100,000 professional soldiers on high alert.

Stoltenberg stated that Putin's plan to see less NATO at its borders had failed, because after the accession of Finland and Sweden, everything would be exactly the opposite. In addition, he emphasized that freedom is more important than economic benefits.

Klitschko with alarm: Kyiv is in danger

The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, also delivered his speech at the forum in Davos, saying that it was difficult to convey what was happening in the capital of Ukraine in the "peaceful and sunny" atmosphere of Davos.

He stressed that it was difficult to convey a different atmosphere from afar and simply in words: when people were left homeless, lost their loved ones, and the bodies of the dead were lying on the streets.

Klitschko also expressed confidence that Russia had not abandoned plans to capture Kyiv and stated that the capital heard alarm signals several times a day, and some people spent months underground.

"Even now, no one is safe. A missile may hit any second," Klitschko emphasized and turned on the sound of an alarm for the guests of the forum.

He also recalled the catastrophe in Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, and Borodianka. Up to 90% of the houses there were destroyed and a large number of people were tortured and executed.

Context.

Earlier, we wrote about the weapons Western countries had provided to Ukraine during the three months of a full-scale Russian invasion.
We also summed up the results of three months of a full-scale war in Ukraine and explained why Russia had failed to cosplay the United States in Iraq.