U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Davos on Thursday, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Zelensky was in Kiev on Wednesday while Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum. In his speech, Trump said he planned to meet with Zelensky later in the day.
“I’m dealing with President Zelensky, and I think he wants to make a deal,” Trump said.
The pair are set to continue discussions about efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Putin confirmed late on Wednesday that Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected in Moscow on Thursday for talks. The Russian leader said that Moscow and Washington, among other things, are discussing the possibility of using Russian assets frozen in the U.S. for rebuilding “territories damaged by the hostilities” after a peace agreement is reached.
But with a dispute over Greenland’s future largely eclipsing other transatlantic issues at Davos, discussions about Ukraine’s defense looked likely to be sidelined.
Zelenskyy said last week his envoys would try to finalize with U.S. officials documents for a proposed peace settlement that relate to postwar security guarantees and economic recovery.
He added that the U.S. and Ukraine could sign the documents in Davos this week, but on Tuesday he said he wouldn’t be traveling to Switzerland and would focus on restoring power in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers is allocating 2.56 billion hryvnias (almost $60 million) from a reserve fund to purchase generators, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said Wednesday.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday urged the 32-nation alliance’s military chiefs to press their national governments to supply desperately needed air defense systems to Ukraine, helping it fend off Russia’s aerial attacks.
The meeting will take place on the same day that Trump’s foreign policy envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, travel to Moscow for meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and make a deal, and if they don’t, they’re fools,” Trump added of Zelensky and Putin.
