DAVOS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the West on Tuesday to show a united front against Russian President Vladimir Putin and to step up its support for Kyiv to ensure that Moscow did not prevail in the war.
Western hesitation in its backing for Kyiv and fears of an escalation in the war with Russia were costing time and could prolong the fighting by years, he told the World Economic Forum in Davos.
"In fact, Putin embodies war... 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," Zelensky said.
Nearly two years after Russia launched its full-scale war, Zelensky told the forum he strongly opposed freezing the conflict along its current lines.
The forum comes as Kyiv's troops are going onto a more defensive footing after a major counteroffensive last year was unable to break through Russian defensive lines in Ukraine's occupied south and east.
Kyiv is now focused on trying to secure Western assistance held up by political wrangling in the US Congress and Brussels, reforming its conscription effort to replenish manpower and addressing artillery shortages at the front.
In a question-and-answer session after his speech, Zelensky said he had received "positive signals" about the unlocking of financial support from the European Union.
He said he hoped that the United States would approve further aid within weeks.
Zelensky met senior officials earlier on the sidelines of the forum, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg and international investors such as executives from JPMorgan.
Meanwhile, residents of the Russian-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine lined up on Tuesday to register their support for Vladimir Putin in a presidential vote where he is sure to win re-election.
Russia claimed Donetsk and three other Ukrainian regions as its own territory in September 2022.
Conducting the March election in these areas is important for Moscow as a means of demonstrating that it has integrated them as "new territories", even though it does not fully control them militarily.
Nearly two years into the conflict, there is no sign of an end to it and neither side has made any significant breakthrough for many months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that every reduction of pressure on Russia would add years to the war. — Reuters
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