- We're honored to have his excellency,
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joining us live from Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy has demonstrated powerful leadership
throughout the war.
Mr. President,
you and your nation have shown strength, tenacity,
and heroism in the face of aggression.
President Zelenskyy, the floor is yours.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Translator] Thank you, Mr. President,
Dear President David Malpass
and dear Managing Director of IMF, Kristalina.
I would like to greet all those
who are attending this historical meeting
of the World Bank.
And a few days ago, I spoke with Ms. Kristalina Georgieva
and I heard very important words from her about Ukraine.
We talked about life in our city Kharkiv.
It's the biggest city of Eastern Ukraine.
The Russian troops are bombarding
and firing at it for some weeks.
And those parts where Russian weapons
can reach over 1,000 houses have been ruined.
Russian artillery, Russian missiles,
Russian air bombs do not discriminate
between who to kill and which buildings to blow up
or set on fire.
In Downtown Kharkiv and at the side streets,
it's equally dangerous
and people can die from Russian strikes.
But you should know our people, the residents of Kharkiv,
even during the war, during those firing strikes,
Kharkiv has remained a functioning city.
And Ms. Kristalina pointed out that despite everything,
they are planting flowers in Kharkiv,
they are trimming the trees and cleaning the trees,
and keeping the city in a good shape.
That's what our Kharkiv is like.
That's what our country is like.
We were able to liberate
three northern provinces of the country
from the occupiers that (indistinct),
and we are doing everything now
to bring normal life back there.
Russian troops have destroyed
or damaged tens of thousands of buildings.
Almost all objects of social sphere
have been burned down or require fixing.
Thousands of people have been killed.
Most businesses have been destroyed.
We are bringing back electricity,
communication lines, water supplies.
We are renewing transportation lines,
building up the temporary bridges on the rivers.
We are continuing building social administrative services.
And every day, we remove mines
and booby traps left by the Russian militaries.
Imagine, they were even putting those mine traps
in people's homes, in home equipment,
and even in the agricultural fields.
But despite all this,
our people are coming back home.
Ukrainians are doing everything
in order to bring back normal life
because that's who we are, Ukrainians.
In the east of our country in Donbas in the south,
the situation is even harder.
And right now, active combat action is going on.
Russia is still trying to build up a new
and atrocious offensive operation.
I can give you just one number
so you understand the scale of our experiences.
Owing to bombardment and fire strikes,
there have been 1,141 educational institutions
ruined or damaged.
That includes schools, nursery schools,
universities all across the country.
Not every country of the world
has so many institutions of education
as Russians have ruined in Ukraine.
And if we are talking about schools and colleges,
you can imagine how many other places
that have been ruined.
That's hospitals, infrastructural objects,
businesses, et cetera.
Russian investment has damaged,
given tremendous damage.
At the very preliminary evaluation,
Ukraine has lost 550,000 billions
in the value of the destruction.
Russia has blocked our ports
in the Black Sea and (indistinct).
This has reduced our export,
including agrarian export,
and this already impacts world food safety.
A recent UN report said that 47 million people
in 81 countries of the world will starve
because of growth of prices for food.
And this is not about physical shortage of food
in many countries of African and Asia.
This will also cause political instability
and maybe a new migration crisis.
People will look for the guilty,
those who are guilty in that,
and they will go out on the streets.
They will look for a way to save themselves.
We are doing everything we can
in order to build up the export of our products.
And we have started sowing this,
sowing in the fields as much as we can,
but nobody in the world can be sure
that we'll be able to guarantee food security
as long as this war is going on.
To stop the war now and to liberate our territory
from the Russian invaders is the only secure way
to stop the development of a food crisis.
Russian military are aimed
at destroying all objects in Ukraine
that can serve as an economic base for life.
That includes railroad stations, food warehouses,
oil refineries, et cetera.
At this time,
we need up to seven billion US dollars each month
to make up for the economic losses.
And we will need hundreds of billions of dollars
to rebuild all this later.
I am sure that all of you have seen those calculations.
We have to speak honestly with you
and say that Russia is using aggressive methods
in world markets while fighting this war.
They're creating all such conditions.
So not only food market,
but also fuel market and other raw materials markets
would face instability.
Russia has provoked the growth of prices
for energy resources in Europe
and the whole democratic world.
They are slowing the sales to,
especially for natural gas
to create painful prices for European consumers.
This and other examples show
that Russia can no longer be considered a normal
and reliable supplier of energy resources,
a normal and reliable trade partner.
We all can implement such decisions,
which will not only stop the aggressive intentions of Russia
and who not only support Ukraine in this war,
but will also show all potential aggressors in the world
that if you create problems for other nations,
this means you will create problems for yourself
because if we don't do that,
then millions and millions of people in the world
will suffer more than once from aggressive action
of some countries.
So what steps are needed now, right now.
First is immediate support for Ukraine
so that the leadership of Russia know
that war will not allow them
to implement any of their aggressive goals.
Details of such financial support,
I'm sure will be presented by our prime minister
and minister of finance who are present at this meeting.
We must do everything
so that Ukrainians have everything they need
for survival and life, even despite the war.
And as I mentioned,
the city of Kharkiv at the beginning,
and this applies to all other cities
and communities of Ukraine.
Number two, we need immediately to exclude Russia
from all international financial institutions,
IMF, World Bank, and others.
That's not the place for a country
that is trying to build the life of a neighborly nation.
Number three, a special tax on war is needed in Russia.
And after that, any other aggressor must pay
for destroying global stability.
Such tax must be applied to all without exception.
Trade operations with Russian federation
or with Russian companies,
or all export and import operations,
for all financial operations that are not blocked yet.
The costs from that war tax must be used to help Ukraine
to renew everything that Russia has destroyed.
And if this tax is applied to another aggressor,
then those costs must be directed
to the victims of that war.
The world needs needs a working effective instrument
to react to destructive action,
but all those
who doesn't want to support collective security.
I'm sure that such a war tax can be a tool of that kind.
Number four, every country of the world
must immediately prepare to break up
all relations with Russia.
No one should be dependent on the political whims
of the leaders of that country.
If the world is prepared to isolate Russia completely,
then the Russian leadership
will have a motivation to avoid any war.
Number five, those assets of the Russian state
that already have been blocked
and of the Russian elite,
but that is not all their assets that we know.
This blocking has to be continued.
Those efforts have to be continued
and that's not a goal in itself.
Those monies that were blocked and frozen
have to be used to rebuild Ukraine after the war
as well as to pay for the losses caused to other nations.
If there is starvation started in some regions
due to Russia's war,
those frozen assets can be used
to pay for the assistance and compensation.
We must use all our strengths
so that Russia feels be punished for this war
and also feels how big is the need to bring back peace,
including for Russia itself.
So by helping us,
we are helping to stabilize the world in general
and fix market problems,
including beginning with the food market.
and with your support, with your financial support,
we will quickly rebuild our nation.
That means new opportunities for business
from different countries for not just economic growth,
but also this will be a specific proof
that global financial institutions
are capable to work in the interest
of rank and file people and of mankind in general.
I would like one of our next meetings
to take place in Ukraine
in one of our cities that were rebuilt with your support.
Maybe in Kharkiv.
Thank you for your attention and glory to Ukraine.