Zelensky condemns ‘predator’ Putin at Davos; US ‘won’t quit Nato even if Trump is elected’

17 Jan 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Vladimir Putin as a ‘predator’ and told an audience of global finance and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos that aid to Ukraine was worth the investment.

Latvia’s defence chief said the Baltic nation was making progress in assembling a coalition of almost 20 countries to arm Ukrainian forces with “thousands” of new unmanned aerial vehicles.

China’s state-owned banks are tightening curbs on funding to Russian clients after the US authorised secondary sanctions on overseas financial firms that aid Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, people familiar with the matter said.

The US won’t quit Nato regardless of the outcome of this year’s elections and despite threats by Donald Trump to exit the military alliance, according to the organisation’s chief.

Zelensky targets ‘predator’ Putin in Davos pitch for Kyiv aid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Vladimir Putin as a “predator” and told an audience of global finance and political leaders that aid to Ukraine was worth the investment.

“Please strengthen our economy and we will strengthen your security,” the Ukrainian president said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

Zelensky made his main pitch to a rapt crowd in the Swiss resort town. He warned that any frozen conflict would “eventually reignite” — and that Putin, a figure unable to change his course of action, “embodies war”.

The Ukrainian leader made reference to German-led efforts to halt the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region that erupted after Russia annexed Crimea and backed Kremlin-led separatists in 2014. That initiative, centred around the Minsk accords embraced by then Chancellor Angela Merkel, ultimately failed, Zelensky said.

“Putin is a predator who is not satisfied with frozen products,” the Ukrainian leader told the group.

Zelensky is in Davos as part of a bid to win backing from investors to help rebuild Ukraine’s battered economy, with more than $100-billion in vital aid for Kyiv currently stalled in Washington and Brussels.

“In any dire confrontation, there is always a point where catastrophe can be stopped,” he said. “Ukraine is that opportunity.”

Biden calls in congressional leaders for meeting on Ukraine aid

US President Joe Biden will meet House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday to discuss billions in fresh aid for Ukraine that has stalled on Capitol Hill.

The meeting, which also will include key committee chairmen, will focus on “the critical importance” of Biden’s supplemental funding proposal for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

Hardline Republicans have baulked at the $61-billion request for Ukraine war aid, which has become a sticking point in broader negotiations on federal spending, border security and an emerging tax deal. The Ukraine aid request will be the focus of the meeting, a person familiar with the meeting said.

The issue is particularly difficult for Johnson, whose tenuous grasp on the speakership could be at risk if he pushes for Ukraine aid.

Johnson’s spokesman Raj Shah confirmed that the speaker would attend the meeting with other congressional leaders.

A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators has been working for months on a potential bargain to enact new US border and immigration restrictions in exchange for approving Ukraine aid. Negotiators have repeatedly claimed in recent weeks that they were close to a deal, only to remain at an impasse.

US will stay in Nato despite Trump, says alliance chief

The US won’t quit Nato regardless of the outcome of this year’s elections and despite threats by Donald Trump to exit the military alliance, according to the organisation’s chief.

“The US will remain a staunch and important ally because it is in the security interest of the United States to have more than 30 friends and allies,” Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“That’s something China and Russia don’t have — it makes the US safer and stronger,” Stoltenberg added.

The comments come amid concern among Nato officials, particularly in Europe, that Trump could be heading back to the White House after Iowa voters delivered him a clear victory in Monday’s Republican caucuses.

The former president has threatened to pull the US out of Nato. That would leave Europe to defend itself with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at its borders, at a time when the region is struggling to ramp up its defence industry.

Read More: Trump triumph has wary world bracing for White House return

Ukraine to receive ‘thousands’ of drones as Latvia coaxes allies

Latvia’s defence chief said the Baltic nation was making progress in assembling a coalition of almost 20 countries to arm Ukrainian forces with “thousands” of new unmanned aerial vehicles.

The comments by Defence Minister Andris Spruds were the first indication of the scale of the drone initiative after the plan was unveiled at a meeting with Ukraine’s defence chief, Rustem Umerov, in December. A fresh inventory will help Kyiv’s military in a conflict in which drone warfare has become a significant element in the fighting, he said.

“The primary goal is to do everything so that as many of these drones as possible are also delivered to Ukraine,” Spruds said in an interview in Riga on Monday.

Drones have been at the top of the list of military hardware sought by Ukraine’s military leaders. Ukrainian and Russian forces are aggressively using the aerial vehicles for surveillance and targeting troops with explosives. Ukraine is also building a fleet of naval drones, which it has deployed to target Russian vessels in the Black Sea.

Ukraine has set out to produce a million modified so-called first-person view UAVs for use on the battlefield this year, as well as more than 10,000 mid-range and 1,000 long-range strike drones, Oleksandr Kamyshin, minister of strategic industries, said last month.

The Baltic states — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — have been among the most vocal Nato member states in condemning Putin’s war aims.

China banks tighten curbs on Russia after US sanctions order

China’s state-owned banks are tightening curbs on funding to Russian clients after the US authorised secondary sanctions on overseas financial firms that aid Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, people familiar with the matter said.

At least two banks ordered a review of their Russian business in recent weeks, focusing on cross-border deals, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. Banks will sever ties with clients on the sanctions list and will stop providing any financial services to the Russian military industry regardless of the currency or the location of the transactions, said the people.

The lenders are stepping up due diligence on clients, including checks on whether their business registrations, authorised beneficiaries and ultimate controllers are from Russia, said the people. The review will be extended to non-Russian clients conducting business in Russia or transferring critical items to Russia through a third country, they said.

The move marks an escalation of curbs Chinese state banks had in place since at least early 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a wave of sanctions from nations including the US. The US Treasury Department said last month it would use secondary sanctions against banks that facilitate deals for Russia to procure equipment necessary for its war machine, expanding its financial battle against Putin.

Dimon and Dalio confer with Zelensky as Kyiv seeks help

Zelensky met some of the biggest names in global finance as he sought to bolster wavering support for his country’s fight against Russia.

The Ukrainian leader spoke with JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman and Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio on Tuesday morning. His mission: replenish the state coffers and divert attention back to a conflict at Europe’s doors.

Dimon introduced himself to Zelensky — “I’m Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan Chase. God bless you.” This was the first time Zelensky had come to the World Economic Forum since the Russian invasion. He was last in Davos, Switzerland in 2020.

“It is very important to be here, to boost investment in Ukraine and support our economy,” Zelensky told a gathering on Tuesday, according to remarks published on his website. He also floated the “special potential” of military production, including cooperation with Western defence companies.

Other leaders in attendance at the meeting included Philipp Hildebrand of BlackRock, Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein and Lakshmi Mittal, the chairman of ArcelorMittal, one of the biggest international investors in Ukraine.

Russian crude faces delivery hurdles in India as sanctions bite

Russian crude oil tankers are facing some issues in delivering cargoes at Indian ports due to the enforcement of the price cap by the Group of Seven nations and challenges with shipping, the South Asian country’s oil minister, Hardeep Puri, said Tuesday.

“In the Russian case, it is a question of price cap and it is also a question of some of their shipping entities coming under adverse notice of others,” Puri said at Bloomberg House in Davos in response to a question on why Russian crude cargoes were stuck at Indian ports. “When Russian prices don’t conform, we buy from Iraq, the UAE, Saudi Arabia,” Puri said in an interview with Haslinda Amin.

Last month, the US tightened enforcement of the G7’s $60 price cap by sanctioning several traders of Russian oil. The price cap is designed to limit Russia’s revenues from oil exports, denying it funds for the war in Ukraine, while ensuring the global economy remains well supplied.

EU sees gas storage levels more than half full by winter’s end

The European Union expects to end the winter with its gas stores more than half full, the latest sign that the region is managing well despite a sharp drop in supplies from Russia.

The European Commission expects to end March with its gas facilities at 54% full, assuming that countries continue to reduce demand by 15%, according to a presentation seen by Bloomberg. But it warned that a return to normal demand “still can’t be afforded in the medium term”.

While gas prices remain higher than before the energy crisis, the region has shown that alternatives to Russian gas can be found with short notice. Risks remain though, and most notably from any supply disruptions caused by conflicts in the Middle East. DM

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