The Latest: Ukraine premier downplays resignation talk

The Latest: Ukraine premier downplays resignation talk

SeattlePI.com

Published

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The Latest on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (all times local):

11:35 a.m.

Ukraine’s prime minister says he is “not planning to go anywhere,” trying to tamp down “rumors” that he or his government might soon resign.

Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk was initially evasive about whether he would step down during a question and answer session during a breakfast event Thursday about Ukraine on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Last week, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected Honcharuk’s offer to resign after the prime minister was caught on tape saying Zelenskiy — a former sitcom star with no previous political experience — knows nothing about the economy.

“I am not planning to go anywhere. We have wonderful relations inside the team with the president," he told a packed Davos hotel ballroom.

Honcharuk had initially dodged a question about whether he would resign, speaking only more broadly about his government’s plans.

“I don’t want to disseminate the rumors: The government is not leaving, the government is planning to continue working, we’re not planning any resignations,” he said. “There are so many provocations, manipulations around the government.”

Honcharuk only admitted he had no plans to leave after being pressed by the panel moderator, Fareed Zakaria of CNN.

___

10:50 a.m.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is in no position to give economic advice until she’s gone to college and come out with an economics degree.

At a press briefing at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos, Mnuchin took a swipe at the 17-year-old environmental campaigner for her recommendation that both the public and private sectors should divest...

Full Article