DAVOS, Switzerland: Russia would normally have its own"house" at the World Economic Forum as a showcase for business leaders and investors.
But not only the weather is different in 2022, with Russian politicians, executives and academics entirely absent. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg are among the leaders due to address the meeting. Inflation from hobbled supply chains emerged as a problem last year, in economies such as the United States in particular.
"This is a place where all influencers and all decision-makers of the world come together," the artistic director of the Pinchuk Arts Centre in Kyiv, Bjorn Geldhof, told Reuters TV.Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the invasion of Ukraine a"special military operation" to disarm the country and rid it of radical anti-Russian nationalists.