Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is headlining a frenzied first full day of the World Economic Forum\u2019s annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where top officials from the United States, the European Union, China, the Middle East and beyond will also take centre stage on Tuesday. Zelenskyy will endeavour to keep his country\u2019s long and largely stalemated defence against Russia on the minds of political leaders, just as Israel\u2019s war with Hamas, which passed the 100-day mark, has siphoned off much of the world\u2019s attention and sparked concerns about a wider conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Conversations with prime ministers of Qatar and Jordan will bookend the day\u2019s most visible events, with speeches by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the United States national security adviser Jake Sullivan in between. Zelenskyy, once reticent about leaving his war-torn country, has recently gone on a whirlwind tour to try to rally support for Ukraine\u2019s cause against Russia amid donor fatigue in the West and concerns that former US President Donald Trump \u2013 who touted having good relations with Putin \u2013 might return to the White House next year.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Zelenskyy made a stop in Switzerland\u2019s capital of Bern, where President Viola Amherd pledged her country would start working with Ukraine to help organize a \u201cpeace summit\u201d for Ukraine. Zelenskyy is following that up with his first trip to Davos as president after speaking by video in previous years. He hopes to parlay the high visibility of the event into a bully pulpit to showcase Ukraine\u2019s pressing needs, and allies will be lining up: A morning, invitation-only \u201cCEOs for Ukraine\u201d session will precede his afternoon speech.<\/p>\n
The corporate chiefs will hear \u201cwhat kind of immediate assistance is needed\u201d and lay out how private and public sectors can help Ukraine rebuild one day, forum organisers say. The session will draw NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and US envoy for Ukraine\u2019s economic recovery, Penny Pritzker, among others. Later Tuesday, leaders of some of Ukraine\u2019s key European allies \u2013 Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot and Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno \u2013 will participate in a session on the \u201chorizons\u201d for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The theme of the meeting in Davos is \u201crebuilding trust,\u201d and it comes as that sentiment has been fraying globally: Wars in the Middle East and Europe have increasingly split the world into different camps. While the geopolitical situation has oozed gloom, businesses appear more hopeful \u2013 in part from prospects that artificial intelligence can help boost productivity. Leading Western stock indexes shot up in 2023, and falling inflation raised hopes of a decline in interest rates.<\/p>\n
The consulting firm PwC, in its 27th annual CEO survey, said economic optimism has doubled among executives over the past year \u2013 even if the prospects over the next decade appear less certain. With the pressure from climate change and technology like artificial intelligence, a growing number of executives say they are worried their businesses would not be viable in 10 years without reinvention. AI is a major topic over the week in Davos, with a key talk by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella \u2013 whose company has invested billions in ChatGPT maker OpenAI \u2013 among the sessions planned Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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