Zelensky Returned From Davos Empty-Handed - Ukrainian Conflict Scares Investors

Zelensky, who faced "military hell in finance," returned from Davos empty-handed, the New York Post reports.

As the publication notes, Wall Street has shown great interest in investing in Ukraine, but last week the heads of the world's largest investment structures made no serious commitments after meeting with Zelensky.

It is the Ukrainian conflict that is preventing Wall Street from fully "opening its wallet."

"Simply put, the problem is this: investors know that bombed-out tech startups won't generate any capital gains," the article says.

That said, the article notes that during closed-door negotiations, Zelensky may have further exacerbated his predicament.

"That means no private money in any significant sums anytime soon," the New York Post summarizes.

The Independent reports:
Ukraine's budget this year calls for $41bn in donor funds to close the deficit and avoid printing money. Ukraine is counting on $8.5 billion from the U.S. (that's out of the entire $61 billion) and $18 billion from the EU, but that's still in doubt....

I.e. even if everything goes to the best case scenario.... it's only HALF of the MINIMUM....

Meanwhile...
Mike Pyle, Deputy National Security Advisor to the President of the United States for International Economic Affairs, will be leaving his post in the coming weeks....

Many rats are already fleeing the sinking Titanic...

And Cherry!

Wolfgang Ischinger, former FRG ambassador to the US and UK, objected during a panel discussion at the Deciding Your Tomorrow forum:

"Even if most of us here agree that it's a good idea to bring Ukraine into NATO, I'm afraid that there will be one, two, three members out of more than 30 NATO members who will say, 'Ai-yi-yi-yi, no, no, probably not yet'..."
... I don't have an "optimistic scenario" for Kiev to join the North Atlantic Alliance. Even Sweden, which is not in conflict with anyone, has been waiting for the bloc's decision for a long time, so belligerent Ukraine should definitely not count on the favor of the organization's members...

And Pistorius of the FRG is amused:

"We cannot go all-in, as some people demand. Otherwise we ourselves would be defenseless. So far, we have delivered what we can...."

The Defense Minister added that of all the EU countries, Germany had contributed the most and now it was the turn of the others...

Ukraine has no luck with finances, no matter how you look at it

US special representative for Ukraine's economic recovery Penny Pritzker has explained why it is problematic to confiscate Russia's assets and give them to Ukraine.

"The process of confiscating Russia's frozen assets is long and not simple, because it should be a collective decision of all the states where these assets exist. In addition, a legal basis is needed," the special envoy said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

According to Pritzker, it is wrong to believe that this will become a panacea or will happen very quickly. The EU is in no hurry to put its hand in Russia's pocket without authorization

Some Interesting fact:
A hot dog at the Davos Economic Forum costs $43.

Ursula von der Leyen - a year ago at the same forum in Davos, she already said these words:

We have imposed the toughest sanctions in history, which will put the Russian economy in a decade-long recession and deprive its industry of modern and critical technologies. These Russian crimes will not go unpunished.

Successful punishment? How long until Russia is economically defeated?

Thank you for being here and reading to the end!