Zelenskyy at WEF: 'Peace Must Win', Calls for Putin's Defeat

Davos, Jan 16 (PTI) "Peace must win", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday at the WEF as he called for support from the international community to defeat the Russian President Vladimir Putin and make him realise that the world unity is stronger than one man's hatred.

Zelenskyy, who also met a number of world leaders here, said everyone wants to know when will the war end or will the world see the third world war. "Is negotiation with Putin possible," he asked and said, "Putin actually embodies war".

"The war should end with a just peace and that would happen after Putin is defeated and the lives of Ukrainian people are restored," he said in a special address at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 here.

Referring to wars in Syria and Crimea among others, the president of the war-hit country said one man has stolen at least 13 years of peace.

"Putin actually embodies war. All efforts have failed and it has been proven that this man will not change. His answer to calls for peace is getting more and more weapons from North Korea and Iran. His answer to efforts for restoring peace is support to terrorists," he said.

Zelenskyy said if anyone thinks it's only about Ukraine, they are fundamentally mistaken. "We were alone when we were attacked but the good part is the world has now stopped believing in Russia and no one believes in his future," he said.

"We have always been told to de-escalate but lost many of our warriors and opportunities were lost. All of us must invest into peace and bring it to a closure... Putin must regret. We need him to lose. He needs to know that world unity is much more stronger than one man's hatred," the president said.

Asked if he has any hopes that Putin will realise his mistakes under pressure from his people, he said, "I don't think Putin can change because only humans change."

Later interacting with the International Media Council of the WEF, Zelenskyy said it will be a terrible experiment to drag providing help.

He was asked what will happen if the US assistance doesn't materialise.

"If there is no assistance, we will be weak in the battlefield, we will have a huge deficit of weapons, and there will be a huge number of casualties and a huge number of wounded. Right now people have heating, water in their homes.

"If the US or European assistance does not come, Ukraine will still fight but that will be a huge loss for everyone and that is what Putin wants," he said.

"It is not just security for Ukrainian people but also for Europe. Just because the Russian President blocked the Black Sea, almost the entire world suffered. Not helping Ukraine also means not helping many other countries who need food and who need energy," he added.

He said seven million people have left Ukraine and we risk a lot more migration and deaths.