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[h=4]Ukraine's Poroshenko in Davos: We need help[/h]DAVOS, Switzerland -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko delivered an emotional speech here Wednesday and also forcefully restated his government's view that Russia is the aggressor in a conflict that has
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday that more than 9,000 Russian soldiers were currently backing up pro-Moscow fighters in the separatist east of the country.
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shows a piece of a bus that was recently attacked, during his talk about the future of Ukraine in Davos, Switzerland.(Photo: Laurent Gillieron, European Pressphoto Agency)
DAVOS, Switzerland — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko delivered an emotional speech here Wednesday and forcefully restated his government's view that Russia is the aggressor in a conflict that has raged for months and killed almost 5,000 people.
"We are not only fighting for our territorial integrity and independence, we are fighting for European values," Poroshenko said during a packed address to the World Economic Forum, which is holding its annual meeting in this Swiss ski town. Poroshenko said that last year was "the most difficult" in Ukraine's history.
He said that more than 9,000 Russian soldiers and several hundred tanks are now on active duty in Ukraine and that 7% of its territory is effectively occupied. "If this is not aggression, what is aggression?" he said.
At one point during his speech, he held up a large, yellow hunk of metal with what appeared to be shrapnel marks that he said was a panel from a public bus that was hit by a missile near a Ukrainian military checkpoint close to the town of Volnovakha. Thirteen passengers were killed in the attack that also injured 13 people, he said.
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"For me, this is a symbol, a symbol of the terrorist attack against my country — the same way it is a symbol like Charlie Hebdo," he said, drawing a parallel to the Paris attack on the French satirical newspaper that killed 12 people.
Poroshenko said it was important that he make that connection because he did not want the world to suffer from what he called "Ukrainian fatigue."
Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School of Government and Professor of Global Economic Governance at Oxford University, left, Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, John W. Hickenlooper, governor of Colorado, Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kiev, Ali Tarhouni, president of the Constituent Assembly of Libya and Wang Hui, professor of Modern Chinese Thought and Literature at Tsinghua University, attend the Open Forum event in Davos on Jan. 21.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Jean-Christophe Bott, European Pressphoto Agency)
Mina Al-Oraibi, left, assistant editor in chief of the Arabic international newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat," academic Hamza Yusuf Hanson, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa Thabo Cecil Makgoba, David Rosen, rabbi and international director of Interreligious Affairs at the American Jewish Committee and Tony Blair, Middle East quartet representative, attend an Open Forum discussion entitled "Religion: A Pretext for Conflict?" at the Swiss Alpine School in Davos.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Valeriano DiDomenico, WEC, via European Pressphoto Agency)
Brian T. Moynihan, left, chairman of the board and CEO of Bank of America, Liu Mingkang, distinguished fellow at Fung Global Institute, Hong Kong SAR, Anshu Jain, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank, Andre Esteves, CEO of Banco BTG Pactual and Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC Holdings, attend a panel session the first day of the World Economic Forum.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Jean-Christophe Bott, European Pressphoto Agency)
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Since March, when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, Kiev's troops have been locked in a battle with rebel forces in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions that it says are receiving support and guidance from Moscow. Russia has consistently denied allegations from Ukraine, NATO and other Western allies that its forces are operating in Ukraine and arming rebels.
In recent days, fierce clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces took place near the bombed-out ruins of the Donetsk airport, and Ukraine said that Russian troops had crossed into its territory, a claim Russia disputes. A cease-fire reached in September appears to be all but over. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes since the fighting began.
Talks on ending the escalation in violence took place Wednesday in Berlin. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Russia and Ukraine agreed on a procedure for the withdrawal of heavy weapons in eastern Ukraine, but there was "no breakthrough" to achieve a peace accord, the Associated Press reported.
While in Davos, Poroshenko met with several global leaders including foreign ministers from around Europe to discuss the situation in Ukraine. He also held meetings with media and financial leaders.
He said that Russia's actions have dramatically increased the number of Ukrainians who now want to be part of the European Union, that European security itself is at risk and that Ukraine's military defenses are costing the country several tens of millions hryvnia a month. (One U.S. dollar is about 16 Ukrainian hryvnia.)
"We want to create a new country, free from corruption, with independent courts and the rule of law. We want to build a new climate for investment," the president said in his speech.
The International Monetary Fund has pledged an aid package to Ukraine of about $17 billion, of which about a third of that has been paid. But the country needs more, as the war has taken a toll on its budget, and its economy flirts with bankruptcy.
"President Poroshenko informed me today that the Ukrainian authorities have requested a multi-year arrangement with the Fund ... to replace the existing Stand-By Arrangement," Christine Lagarde, the IMF's managing director, said Wednesday in a statement.
Borys Lozhkin, the head of Ukraine's presidential administration, told USA TODAY in Davos that what the country needed now was more money and especially additional people for key government jobs wherever they may come from, including outside Ukraine.
Natalie Jaresko, appointed Ukraine's finance minister in 2014, is an American-born investment banker. Aivaras Abromavicius, the nation's minister for trade, is Lithuanian. Levan Izoria, a deputy minister of internal affairs, is Georgian.
"The situation right now is quite difficult," Lozhkin said. "We of course have a lot of talented people inside Ukraine who are well-educated and have good experience; non-corrupted people," he said. "But we need more of them."
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