Monday 23 May 2022 10:10 AM Davos gets underway without Russia after ban over war in Ukraine trends now
Political and business elites from around the globe have landed in Davos for the World Economic Forum which kicks off today is set to be dominated by Ukraine.
Kyiv has dispatched a huge contingent of diplomats - led by foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba - as part of a charm offensive to secure new economic and military support to win the war. President Volodymyr Zelensky will also give a video address later today.
But Russia will not be present at the four-day event, as it has been in past years, after organisers banned the country over the invasion in perhaps the starkest sign yet of Putin's economic and geopolitical isolation.
'The major request to the whole world here is: do not stop backing Ukraine,' lawmaker Ivanna Klympush Tsintsadze told reporters on the eve of the summit.
Russia House, a conference centre in Davos, Switzerland, typically used by the Russian delegation, has been turned into 'War Crimes House' after the country was banned
A contingent of Ukrainian lawmakers issue a statement late Sunday ahead of the conference urging world leaders to continue backing he country against Russia
When the WEF last took place in Davos in January 2020, the coronavirus was just brewing in China before morphing into a devastating pandemic.
A Davos forum took place virtually last year, with Russian President Vladimir Putin among the speakers.
But Russian business and political leaders, who used to participate in debates and mingle with other A-listers at champagne parties, have been barred this year in perhaps the starkest sign yet of Putin's isolation on the world stage.
Another lawmaker, Anastasia Radina, appealed for NATO-style heavy weaponry to 'win the war'. 'We need weapons more than we need anything else,' she said.
The Ukrainians have transformed the 'Russia House' in Davos - normally used by the Russian delegation - into the 'Russia War Crimes House' to promote their cause.
WEF founder Klaus
