President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the most pressing humanitarian issues for Ukraine today are the exchange of prisoners, the unblocking of Ukrainian ports, as well as the search for and establishment of the location of illegally deported Ukrainians.
He stated this during an online conversation at the Ukrainian House in Davos.
"The first [priority] is the exchange of people. Today it is a humanitarian moment and a political decision that depends on the support of many states. You know, several thousand of our people are in captivity after the blockade of Mariupol, Azovstal. In addition, there were people from Donbass. They are in captivity. These are absolutely brave people, I am immensely grateful to them. They did a great job. I am sure, heroic, historical. We have to exchange them," Zelenskiy said.
According to him, Ukraine has involved in the exchange process the UN, Switzerland, Israel and many other countries that are trying to talk to russia.
However, according to the President, it is necessary not to persuade russia, but to put pressure on it, seeking the necessary solution.
"In no case can you flirt, you can't play with russia, but you should put pressure on politics, closing business, oil embargo. Threats are sanctions, business. And through these threats to achieve opportunities for exchange. Intensify the exchange of our people for the russian military," - Zelenskiy noted.
The second humanitarian problem, according to the president, is the approach of the global food crisis through the russian ports blocked by russia.
"There will be a shortage of food due to the blockade of all ports in our country. Today, 22 million tons of grain are blocked by the russian federation, which fully controls the Black Sea and Azov coasts," he said.
Zelenskiy called the illegal deportation of Ukrainian citizens to the territory of the russian federation the third important humanitarian problem for which there is no practical solution yet.
"Personally, I can't find a way to solve this problem yet. I would like to draw the attention of the international community to this issue. And I would like to bring people home or at least get information about their whereabouts," he said.