Ukraine’s Zelensky, after Trump talks, says territorial issue still not resolved
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan 22.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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- Zelensky and Trump met in Davos; security guarantees for Ukraine are finalised, but territory issues remain unresolved in the war with Russia.
- Trilateral meetings between Russia, Ukraine, and the US will occur in Abu Dhabi to discuss peace and economic recovery plans.
- US envoys are engaging with Russian officials in Moscow, and Putin wants to discuss using frozen assets for reconstruction.
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DAVOS - President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan 22 after talks with US President Donald Trump in Davos that the terms of security guarantees for Ukraine had been finalised, but that the vital issue of territory in its war with Russia remains unresolved.
In what he said was a positive sign of progress in long-running peace talks to end the four-year conflict, Mr Zelensky said negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the US would hold trilateral meetings for the first time in Abu Dhabi on Jan 23 and 24.
He also said a deal was almost ready on economic recovery after the war with Russia, a key element of Kyiv-backed proposals to push back on an earlier US peace plan seen as heavily favouring Moscow.
Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump - who have met half a dozen times since Mr Trump returned to the White House in 2025 and upended US policy on Ukraine - both said the Jan 22 talks were positive.
“I think the meeting with President Zelensky was good. It’s an ongoing process,” Mr Trump told reporters, saying that US envoys were heading for talks in Moscow on Jan 22. Asked what his message was for Mr Putin, Mr Trump replied: “The war has to end.”
Mr Zelensky, who did not indicate he discussed territory with Mr Trump on Jan 22, had said earlier this week he would only travel to Davos if he could sign agreements with Mr Trump on US security guarantees and post-war reconstruction funding for Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky has been saddled with an energy crisis at home from Russian air strikes that have left millions of Ukrainians across swathes of the capital and other regions without power and heating.
Mr Zelensky described Russia’s months-long onslaught as an attempt by Russia’s leader to freeze Ukrainians to death. Invoking Mr Trump’s operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro to face charges before a US court, he wondered aloud why Mr Putin was not yet on trial.
US envoy for Ukraine, Mr Steve Witkoff, had told an audience at the World Economic Forum earlier on Jan 22 that good progress was being made in peace talks, after he met with Ukrainian and Russian officials in Davos.
“If both sides want to solve this, we’re going to get it solved,” Mr Witkoff said.
Talks with Putin in Moscow
Mr Witkoff was due in Moscow later on Jan 22 with fellow US envoy Jared Kushner - Mr Trump’s son-in-law - for talks with Russia’s leader on the possible plan to end Europe’s deadliest war since World War II.
After those discussions, negotiators would head directly to Abu Dhabi, Mr Witkoff said on Jan 22, “where there will be military-to-military talks and discussion of the prosperity package”.
Russia has been cool on the US-led peace push, demanding that Kyiv give up part of its eastern Donetsk region,
Mr Putin said late on Jan 21 that they would discuss a settlement on Ukraine and the possibility of using frozen Russian assets for reconstruction of Moscow-occupied land, as well as Mr Trump’s proposal for a Board of Peace, tasked with promoting peace around the world.
Critics of the proposal have said it would rival or undermine the United Nations.
The Kremlin said Mr Putin’s meeting with Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner will take place after 7pm Moscow time (midnight in Singapore).
Ukraine’s international bonds rallied more than 2 cents on Jan 22 as the bout of high-level diplomatic meetings lifted hopes in financial markets that progress could be made towards ending the war.
Russia keeps up attack on Ukraine
Russian airstrikes hit several parts of Ukraine on Jan 22. In the southern region of Odesa, a 17-year-old boy was killed when a drone struck an apartment building, the regional governor said.
Eleven people were also wounded in the central city of Kryvyi Rih when a ballistic missile slammed into a residential building, officials said.
In the capital Kyiv, nearly 3,000 high-rises across the city remained without heating on Jan 22 after Russia’s latest attack earlier this week. REUTERS
