In fiery Davos speech, Ukraine’s Zelensky blasts EU, says US ‘security guarantees’ ready

DAVOS, Switzerland - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan 22 blasted the EU’s lack of “political will” in countering Russian leader Vladimir Putin, during a fiery address criticising some of Kyiv’s top allies at the World Economic Forum.

The speech to the Davos elite came minutes after Mr Zelensky had met US President Donald Trump, a conversation which he said brought agreement about what post-war US security guarantees for Ukraine would look like.

Mr Zelensky did not say what the security guarantees included, only that they were “done” and were ready to be signed by the leaders and ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament and US Congress.

But in a marked departure from his usual warm rhetoric towards the EU, Kyiv’s main political and financial backers, Mr Zelensky slammed what he cast as inaction, drawing parallels with the cult film Groundhog Day to describe the slow progress on key areas of support for Kyiv.

“What’s missing: time or political will?” he said at one point, referencing delays over the establishment of a European war crimes tribunal on the Russian invasion.

He also said Europe, without mentioning any single country, was failing to agree on how to address global problems.

“There are endless internal arguments and things left unsaid that stop Europe from uniting and speaking honestly enough to find real solutions,” Mr Zelensky told the forum.

“Instead of becoming a truly global power, Europe remains a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers,” he added.

He said Europe looked “lost” over how to deal with the challenge presented by Mr Trump.

“Europe looks lost trying to convince the US President to change. But he will not change. President Trump loves who he is, and he says he loves Europe, but he will not listen to this kind of Europe,” he said.

Mr Trump had

hailed a “good” meeting with Mr Zelensky

in the Swiss ski resort, hours before his envoy, Mr Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner were due in Moscow for talks with Russia’s leader.

“This war has to end,” Trump told reporters including AFP when asked what message he was sending to the Russian leader.

Mr Zelensky said the question of territory was the one outstanding issue in the talks to find an end to the war.

“It’s all about the eastern part of our country. It’s all about the land. This is the issue which we (have) not solved yet.”

Russia, which occupies around 20 per cent of Ukraine, is pushing for full control of

the country’s eastern Donbas region

as part of a deal – but Kyiv has warned ceding ground will embolden Moscow. AFP