News
17.01.2024
Victor Pinchuk Foundation hosts discussion “To a Fair Global Order - Only With Ukraine” on the occasion of WEF 2024
On 17 Jan 2024, Victor Pinchuk Foundation hosted “To a Fair Global Order - Only With Ukraine” discussion during WEF in Davos (Switzerland). The event was held as a part of the Deciding Your Tomorrow project, organized by Victor Pinchuk Foundation and PinchukArtCentre in cooperation with the Office of the President of Ukraine. The panel explored scenarios for the future of Ukraine and its allies in the fight against Russian aggression. Global political leaders, thinkers and activists discuss key aspects of Ukrainians’ defense of life and freedom and it offers a chance to revisit what is at stake in Ukraine.
Among the participants of the discussion were Tobias Billström, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden; Nataliya Gumenyuk, co-founder of Public Interest Journalism Lab and The Reckoning Project; Lesia Vasylenko, Ukrainian MP. The event was moderated by Wolfgang Ischinger, Ambassador (ret), President, MSC Foundation Council, YES Board Member.
Tobias Billström opened the discussion, saying: “We live in a new and very dangerous reality, one where the free world with a rule-based international order is under threat. This world is under pressure from those who want an order where ‘might makes right’ and only the strongest survive. We must resist this, supporting Ukraine and by putting pressure on Russia. There is nothing more important for Swedish foreign policy than Ukraine - on every level.”
“Promoting a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the international law in Ukraine will require the broadest possible support that we can master to achieve this. And this is vital not only for Ukraine and its people, but also for the international community as a whole,” Tobias Billström stressed.
Lesia Vasylenko echoed the view that Ukraine can play a crucial role contributing to the resolution of a number of global challenges, including security challenges and fighting hunger in South Africa: “While Ukraine is on the accession path (to EU), it’s critical that the EU reviews structures and investment. Currently, African and East-European departments are not interlinked, but they should be. Ukraine is really the key and a bridge that can bring new alliances together and create a new world order based on development opportunities.”
“We are counting on our European and global partners to do the talking with us rather than for us - that is shaping the understanding that Ukraine is critical to global security and the global order as it stands today,” Lesia Vasylenko added.
Wolfgang Ischinger invited the panelists to consider the topic of prospective negotiations with Russia and expressed his view on this prospect: “I firmly believe that President Putin and his advisors will not seriously engage in any kind of meaningful negotiations until they know the exact outcome of the US presidential election. This is why I think that for the rest of this year, it is an illusion to seriously listen to Russian proposals because they are not meant in earnest.”
Nataliya Gumenyuk said: “We believe that what Russia proposes today is not peace but occupation. And occupation does not mean peace. It’s just another way of waging a war.”
“I think that it’s important for the world to have a structure which ensures that a small country that is not a member of a big alliance can be defended. This structure should ensure that we will not live under the rule of the mighty and a rule-based order will be preserved,” Nataliya Gumenyuk added.
Photos are available here
Video is available here
