Volodymyr Zelenskyy slams Vladimir Putin at World Economic Forum, says he isn't 'capable of change, only humans can'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos on January 16. In a conversation with Børge Brende, the President of the World Economic Forum, Zelenskyy slammed Putin and said, "I don’t believe Vladimir Putin is capable of changing, only humans can do that."

Zelenskyy on Russian Federation

He began his address by talking about the difference between autocracy and democracy. He said, "How much longer will the people of Russia allow Putin? And afterwards, it's not important whether it's war or elections or to be the head of state. The question is, for how long will the people allow it? That is the principle of democracy, and this is the difference." (Also Read: Zelensky's ‘frozen products’ remark at Davos: ‘Vladimir Putin is a predator’)

He further talks about how people in Russia need to change their thinking. "For how long are people ready to not hear anything, to be deaf, to not see anything, to pretend everything's okay, everything is going well. That's the question for the people of the Russian Federation," said Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy's remark on Putin

While he urged people to move towards a change for the betterment, he also mentioned that Putin is not capable of it, as change is something that 'only humans can do'. (Also Read: Ukraine's Zelensky says Vladimir Putin won't stop war 'until we all finish him')

Who did Zelenskyy meet at the World Economic Forum?

As the war took a hit on Ukraine's economy, Zelenskyy also made efforts to meet international investors. His office said the Ukrainian president met JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) CEO Jamie Dimon and other other senior JPMorgan executives. He also connected with top management of BlackRock, Bridgewater Associates, the Carlyle Group, Blackstone, Dell and ArcelorMittal. Ukraine's economy ministry said about 100 senior executives joined the meeting.

The focus of this meeting was rebuilding Ukraine and modernising the economy of the country, which has been devastated due to war.

According to his office, Zelensky discussed the necessity of creating and implementing financial instruments that combine public and private capital. First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko stated that Kyiv was attempting to expand war insurance for businesses and wanted to strengthen its air defence further.