Russian President Vladimir Putin and his oligarch associates are personae non gratae as far as the controversial World Economic Forum is concerned, due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The forum, which hosts its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, announced this week that Russia and Russian officials will no longer be tied to the group because of the war. The news comes as a litany of other organizations and businesses also severed ties with Russia.
“We are not engaging with any sanctioned individual and have frozen all relations with Russian entities,” Amanda Russo, a spokeswoman for the nongovernmental lobbying group, told Politico.
The forum has had close connections to Russia in the past, so the move to suspend relations is notable. The group’s executive chairman, Klaus Schwab, reportedly has a long-standing personal relationship with Putin, and the Russian strongman has addressed the forum on several occasions.
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Putin even declined an invitation to speak in 2015 immediately after the Russian invasion of Crimea, although this year’s invasion of Ukraine was apparently the line in the sand for the forum. A big part of the impetus behind the freeze in relations is the crippling sanctions imposed against Moscow by the United States and European allies.
For example, Western countries announced that certain Russian financial institutions would be cut off from SWIFT, the main secure messaging system that facilitates cross-border financial transactions and money transfers. SWIFT also happens to be a “partner” of the forum, which works to build private-public partnerships and further globalization.
In the past, Russian oligarchs have been major players during the forum’s annual meetings in Davos. They often threw lavish parties and mingled with the global elite, including CEOs of some of the world’s largest corporations and lawmakers from around the world.
Still, the forum is open to serving as a facilitator between Russia and Ukraine after the fighting comes to an end, which might open Davos back up to Russian officials and oligarchs in the future, according to Politico.
Schwab and Borge Brende, the group’s president, said in a statement that the forum deeply condemns the “attacks and atrocities” committed by Russia against Ukraine.
“Our full solidarity is with Ukraine’s people and all those who are suffering innocently from this totally unacceptable war,” the two said. “We will do whatever is possible to help and actively support humanitarian and diplomatic efforts. We only hope that — in the longer-term — reason will prevail and that the space for bridge-building and reconciliation once more emerges.”
The forum itself has courted controversy and criticism from those who consider the organization and the annual Davos meeting elitist and pushing globalist goals for the benefit of the international upper crust. The meetings have faced protests in the past.
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Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin and Moscow have gotten the cold shoulder from much of the world. The biting sanctions have laid ruin to the Russian economy, with the ruble, the country’s currency, collapsing.
Private companies such as Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, BP, Shell, McDonald’s, and many more have also shut down business operations in Russia as a result of the war.
