World Economic Forum freezes 'all relations' with Russia over Ukraine conflict

The move also locks out a Kremlin-backed economic research center and an advisory council led by Putin’s economic advisor.

World Economic Forum freezes 'all relations' with Russia over Ukraine conflict
AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
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The World Economic Forum, which is made up of the world’s economic and political elite, has frozen “all relations” with the Russian government in Moscow over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, barring the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin from the organization and its events.

The move also locks out a Kremlin-backed economic research center and an advisory council led by Putin’s economic adviser.

“We are not engaging with any sanctioned individual and have frozen all relations with Russian entities,” said World Economic Forum spokesperson Amanda Russo in a statement to Politico.

While the Davos, Switzerland-based group has frozen its relations with Russia, the organization is leaving open the possibility of serving as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends.

As detailed by Politico, the WEF has hosted Putin and his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev five times from 2007 to 2021. When Putin was invited to speak at the conference in 2015 following the annexation of Crimea, Putin refused the invitation.

In January 2021, WEF founder Klaus Schwab called Putin’s voice “essential” in world affairs, arguing that there wasn’t a single issue of global importance that could not be addressed without Russia’s involvement. The two last met in mid-2021, when Schwab informed Putin of the “particular importance” he personally attaches to Russia’s participation in the organization’s events.

The Epoch Times reported:

During an early 2021 virtual World Economic Forum meeting, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Putin warned of a war of “all against all.”

The coronavirus pandemic has become a major challenge to mankind, and it has accelerated structural changes, the preconditions for which were already in place,” the Russian head-of-state said in January 2021. “We have every reason to believe that the tensions might be aggravated even further,” Putin continued to say.

Schwab, in introducing Putin at the time, said that Russia was a long-standing participant in the forum.

The development comes as the United Nations and its NATO allies in Europe have placed heavy economic sanctions on Russia, which includes cutting much of the country’s banks from the SWIFT international banking network and sanctioning Putin and other members of the country’s governing body.

The World Economic Forum has taken a massive blow to its reputation, particularly in recent years following the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the organization and its founder Klaus Schwab’s push for a “Great Reset,” with the pandemic as a catalyst.

In July 2020, Schwab co-authored a book with Thierry Malleret titled “COVID-19: The Great Reset,” which serves as a “guide for anyone who wants to understand how COVID-19 disrupted our social and economic systems, and what changes will be needed to create a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable world going forward.”

Social media posts and articles published by the WEF and its affiliates include the argument that in the year 2030, “You’ll own nothing. And you’ll be happy.”

An article published by WEF member and Danish politician Ida Auken for the organization in Forbes Magazine states, “Welcome to the year 2030. Welcome to my city — or should I say, ‘our city.’ I don't own anything. I don't own a car. I don't own a house. I don't own any appliances or any clothes.”

“It might seem odd to you, but it makes perfect sense for us in this city. Everything you considered a product, has now become a service. We have access to transportation, accommodation, food and all the things we need in our daily lives. One by one all these things became free, so it ended up not making sense for us to own much,” wrote Auken in 2016.

Reuters, a partner of the World Economic Forum with an exclusive content distribution agreement, performed a “fact check” on the claim that “The World Economic Forum does not have a stated goal to have people own nothing by 2030,” rating it “False.”

False. The World Economic Forum does not have a stated goal to have people ‘own nothing and be happy’ by 2030. Its Agenda 2030 framework outlines an aim to ensure all people have access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property.

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