Bill Gates did not say that in the coming years Ukraine will be the greatest danger for the world. In an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, the well-known philanthropist stressed that war is a “terrible tragedy” for the country where hostilities are taking place, but the echoes of this war also reverberate throughout the world. In particular, African countries are now receiving less attention because European budgets are being reallocated to other needs brought on by the pandemic, the war, and the energy crisis.
Russian websites are spreading fakes claiming that Bill Gates named Ukraine as the biggest danger to the world. “Microsoft founder Bill Gates believes that the biggest danger in the next few years will be reduced aid to poor African countries because of events in Ukraine, the German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on February 9. When asked what he considers the biggest danger in the near future, Gates said that in the poorest countries of the world, a great tragedy is currently taking place: because of the war there is less food, fertilizers and other resources,” the Russian website Ukraina.ru wrote.
In fact, in the original podcast, which was posted on the Handelsblatt website on February 10, Bill Gates talks about the latest challenges facing humanity, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war against Ukraine. However, he did not say that the greatest danger to the world in the next few years will come from Ukraine, as Russian media claim. On the contrary, Gates stresses that war is a great tragedy not only for the country where it is taking place, but for the world as a whole. During his conversation with the Handelsblatt reporter, Gates clearly expresses his position on the war and towards the aggressor, stating unequivocally that it is Russia that has occupied territories of several independent countries.
Bill Gates repeatedly stresses that the war is devastating for the country in which it is taking place, and this is a great tragedy. Nowhere does he say that Ukraine is to blame for the problems of poor countries in Africa or that they are stranded “because of Ukraine”. He emphasizes again and again that while war is most deadly and devastating for the country where it is being waged, its reverberations are heard and felt around the world. “Almost unnoticed, the poorer countries of the world are also experiencing great tragedy at the moment: less food, fertilizer and other resources are being delivered there because of the war. The generosity to help African countries in particular is much less than it was before the war. This is bad news, because the generosity of Europe and Germany has been fantastic. (…) Yes, priorities have changed. I understand this, the costs of energy, of armaments, of refugees: Europe has a lot to deal with. Not to mention the costs of fighting climate change,” Gates concludes.
In the Handelsblatt interview Bill Gates points out that apart from the tragedy of the war in Europe itself, African countries are suffering as well, because they are now receiving less money from the “EU big three” – Great Britain, France and Germany. The claim that “the biggest danger in the next few years will happen because of Ukraine” is a Russian media manipulation of what the Microsoft founder actually said. Gates never names any one problem that allegedly poses the greatest danger to the world. It is a combination of issues that pose dangers, Gates explains. Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine began because the Russian Federation launched an attack on the territory of a neighboring sovereign state. Therefore, all difficulties in the world related to military actions are the result of Russian aggression, not the actions of Ukraine, which has to defend its territorial integrity.
StopFake continues to debunk such fakes about Russia’s war against Ukraine in Fake: Bill Gates Called Ukrainian Government One of The Worst in The World, Photofake: Anti-Ukrainian Billboards Appear in Poland, Fake: US Unlikely to Hand over Abrams Tanks to Ukraine’ – Financial Times.
