Ukraine pushed ahead with its peace formula to end nearly two years of war with Russia with a meeting of national security advisers from around the world in Davos on Sunday. Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, posted photos of the meeting’s opening and hailed a “good sign” that the number of participants in a string of conferences on Zelenskiy’s peace formula was growing; nearly half from Europe, as well as 18 from Asia and 12 from Africa. “Countries from the global south are increasingly getting involved in our work. It shows understanding that this European conflict is in fact a challenge for all humanity,” he wrote.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will travel to Switzerland on Monday, his office said, as Ukraine tries to ensure stable support from allies as the war against Russia nears its second anniversary. Zelensky is due to “meet the heads of both houses of parliament, party leaders and the president of Switzerland, participate in the World Economic Forum” in Davos, said a statement from the presidency on Sunday.
China needs to be involved in efforts to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, Switzerland’s co-chair of the Davos meeting Ignazio Cassis told a news conference after a session.
France and Germany reaffirmed their support for Ukraine for as long as needed in its war with Russia. “We are in full agreement … that we must support the Ukrainians for as long as necessary,” French foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné told journalists in Berlin, alongside German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock. Baerbock said they would remain “on the side of Ukraine as long as necessary, until Russia has withdrawn” from Ukrainian territory. Newly appointed Séjourné met Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Saturday on his first official visit abroad, vowing that Paris would maintain its support. “Despite the multiplying crises, Ukraine is and will remain France’s priority,” Séjourné told Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, at a joint news conference earlier. Zelenskiy said he and Séjourné had discussed Ukraine’s defence needs including joint production of drones and artillery.
Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska said on Sunday in a Telegram post there was unlikely to be peace in Ukraine until at least May 2025, and constructive discussion at Davos on ending the conflict would not be possible because no Russian delegation would attend.
North Korean foreign minister Choe Son-hui will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of her counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the North’s KCNA news agency said.
Ukrainians are being urged to create drones for the military at home as part of the “People’s Drone” project. Participants can take a free engineering course to teach themselves how to assemble a 7-inch FPV (first-person-view) drone at home.
Denmark will allocate a new $21m (£16.5m) aid package to Ukraine for the restoration of the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. The assistance package, among other things, includes projects for demining agricultural land and reconstructing the dormitory of the Mykolaiv State Agrarian University.
In its latest defence intelligence update, the UK Ministry of Defence said the impact of the war with Ukraine on healthcare in Russia was “highly likely” being felt by Russia’s civilian population as they struggled to access hospital services and experience shortages of medical products due to treatment of wounded personnel.
A prominent liberal priest faces expulsion from the Russian Orthodox church for refusing to read out a prayer asking God to guide Russia to victory over Ukraine. In a verdict, a church court said Aleksiy Uminsky should be “expelled from holy orders” for violating his priestly oath.
