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There would be no full-scale war if world listened to Ukraine and applied preventive sanctions - Zelenskyy

The President addressed the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

There would be no full-scale war if world listened to Ukraine and applied preventive sanctions - Zelenskyy
Photo: screenshot

The world is now experiencing a turning point in deciding whether brute force will prevail. This force seeks nothing but the subjugation of others, it does not discuss, but kills at once, as russia is doing right now in Ukraine.

This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an online speech at the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

russia has become a state of war crimes, and it inspires other potential aggressors. Zelenskyy stressed that if the world misses this turning point, it will turn into a very large collection of war crimes.

"History remembers many moments when everything changed dramatically. When a few shots could kill millions, if they were shot on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo. History remembers how much grief one person can do if he sees that he is not being resisted enough, as was the case in Munich in 1938," the president recalled.

We now have a large collection of reactions: the UN Charter, the OSCE, the IAEA, the WTO, and other institutions.

"But are there enough of them to react to what we are facing today?.. Absolutely not. We need to change the approach. Do not react, but act, act preventively, and not just adapt to new realities that we have but create new tools. Look at what Ukraine has already done, we have set a new precedent for courage, we have not listened to those who say that our defense will not last longer than a few days, we have stopped the russian army, which is called the second in the world. And at the cost of heavy fighting and thousands of lives, we are pushing the occupiers out of our land," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

He asked whether we would have to do this if Ukraine had been heard from last year and fair precautionary sanctions could be applied against russia that could knock any aggressor off his feet.

"Preventing war would be guaranteed if the world's actions were preventive rather than responsive. Ukraine has set another precedent - the unprecedented unity of the democratic world around the emotions of genuine admiration for Ukrainian courage. And now hundreds of millions of people are pressuring governments and companies to limit relations with the aggressor country. But it is happening only now, although russia went to war against Ukraine in 2014," he said.

The news is updated

On behalf of Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, MP Yevheniya Kravchuk, CEO of Smart Holding Yulia Kiryanova and Kyiv Hub representative Ulyana Avtonomova, Vitaliy and Volodymyr Klitchko, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba will also speak on the forum on different days.

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