The Prime Minister of Belgium urged the world to strengthen Ukraine ahead of negotiations.

This was stated by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo in Davos on Thursday, January 23.

Strengthening Sanctions Against Russia

As De Croo pointed out, over the three years of war, Russia has not achieved any strategic objectives, and its economy has significantly weakened. However, before negotiations to end the war, Ukraine must be positioned more strongly, the politician believes.

"It is important to clarify who the enemy is. The enemy is Vladimir Putin, and he is external, not internal. I see a lot of accusations among partners, but that does not help. We need to be clear: Putin must be weakened, and Ukraine must be strengthened," said De Croo.

He added that weakening Russia can be achieved through the strengthening and extension of sanctions. De Croo also commented on the details of the 16th sanctions package against the Russian Federation.

"The Russian economy has been significantly weakened. In this package, in my opinion, gas and LNG should play a very important role. I think we should also consider fertilizers. We see that fertilizer exports from Russia have actually increased compared to the war period," noted the Prime Minister.

Let us recall that during his speech in Davos, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Putin only understands the language of power. The head of state emphasized that one cannot talk on equal terms with the Russian dictator.

U.S. leader Donald Trump published a message to Vladimir Putin. He urged the Russian dictator to immediately stop the war in Ukraine and issued a threat.