News
17.01.2024
Victor Pinchuk Foundation hosts discussion “Living with War?” on the occasion of WEF 2024
On 16 Jan 2024, Victor Pinchuk Foundation hosted “Living with War?” discussion during the WEF in Davos (Switzerland). The event was held as a part of the Deciding Your Tomorrow project, organized by Victor Pinchuk Foundation and PinchukArtCentre in cooperation with the Office of the President of Ukraine. The panel explored scenarios for the future of Ukraine and its allies in the fight against Russian aggression. Global political leaders, thinkers and activists discuss key aspects of Ukrainians’ defense of life and freedom, and it offers a chance to revisit what is at stake in Ukraine.
Among the participants of the discussion were Taras Chmut, Director, Come Back Alive Foundation; Jan-Emmanuel de Neve, Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science, University of Oxford; Tata Kepler, Medical Volunteer, Founder at "Ptakhy" charity project; Olha Piliarska, Medical Doctor from Kherson City. Serhii Leshchenko, Member of Supervisory board, Ukrainian Railways, moderated the event.
Opening the discussion, Taras Chmut called on Ukraine’s allies to identify a joint strategy for Ukraine to secure a victory in this war.
“World democracies are unanimous in supporting us. All governments make statements about the reconstruction and further demining. But what in practice must happen for this to become a reality? If we are talking about reaching the borders of Ukraine as in 1991, then the weapons that we receive are not enough to achieve that. If we are talking about Putin in the Hague, then there should be more collective effort. We need to have a concrete plan and a complex strategy.”
Tata Kepler said: “Sometimes I feel that the world watches us like a TV show. Unfortunately, the second season was not as exciting for viewers. While watching a TV show one must remember that people are dying while you are changing the channel.”
Olha Piliarska shared ordeals of wartime realities of treating patients: “We were just an ordinary city. I could have never imagined what the future held for us; that I would make Russians leave, or would treat blast injuries, or would work in bulletproof vests. It just happened that way. Life goes on, we keep on treating children, and I’m very grateful for support.”
Jan-Emmanuel de Neve pointed to a new phenomenon of social activism that developed in Ukraine after the invasion. According to his research, Ukrainians experienced less of a drop in life satisfaction compared to when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014: “There is a good English expression ‘a fellow feeling’ for what has developed in Ukraine. My team and I believe that the stories of social activism provided a buffer this time compared to 2014, when we didn’t see such a massive increase of fellow-feeling and pro-social behaviors. This is why we think you have become more resilient.”
“Vladimir Putin has shot himself in the foot with his act of aggression. In football language, it’s the biggest own-goal ever in geopolitics. He has squandered whatever small amount of sympathy there was in Ukraine towards Russia. And obviously now the EU and NATO are closer to Russia’s borders than they ever were,” he concluded.
Photo from the discussion
Video is available here
