Ukraine-Russia Conflict | World Economic Forum Freezes Relations With Russian Entities

The WEF announcement came as the Russian aggression in Ukraine has led to the displacement of nearly 2.2 million people. 

Nearly 2.2 Ukrainians have fled the country so far | AFP

New Delhi: Amid the rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said on Wednesday that it was freezing all relations with Russian entities and would not allow anyone on the sanctions list to attend the high profile annual meeting, news agency AFP reported. 

In a statement to AFP, WEF said, “Following its condemnation of Russia's ongoing attack on Ukraine, the forum is complying with the evolving international sanctions and following the rapidly-developing situation.”

The World Economic Forum says it is freezing all relations with Russian entities, and will not allow anyone on the sanctions list to take part in the annual high-powered meeting in Davoshttps://t.co/C8qwxLZwpk

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 9, 2022

“Therefore the forum freezes all its relations with Russian entities, and will not engage with any sanctioned individual or institution in any of our activities, inclusive the annual meeting,” the statement added.

The WEF announcement comes on the backdrop of Russian aggression in Ukraine that has led to the displacement of nearly 2.2 million people. 

In an attempt to coerce Russia into bringing down its assault in Ukraine, the West has implied multiple economic sanctions on the country, including the ban on Russian oil imports by the US, making it the most sanctioned country in the world. 

The WEF usually hosts the annual gathering of the global political and business leaders in the Swiss resort of Davos in January. However, this year, it was postponed for May 22-26 due to coronavirus concerns according to AFP.

Russia is facing flak from the western world over its invasion into Ukraine on February 24.

While Ukraine is getting humanitarian support from the West along with weapons, no country has yet sent in their troops to the east European country. The US and NATO allies have also closed their air space for Russia in the past few days in their attempts to persuade Russia to stop the assault. 

AFP quoted the WEF founder as saying that “the inability and unwillingness to find substantive solutions to problems like this in the 20th century led to the WWII catastrophe.”

“Of course, such a heated global conflict is impossible in principle. This is what I am pinning my hopes on because this would be the end of humanity,” he added.