Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted his European allies on Thursday for what he portrayed as the continent’s slow, fragmented and inadequate response to Russia’s invasion nearly four years ago and its continued international aggression.
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelensky listed a litany of grievances and criticisms of Europe that he said have left Ukraine at the mercy of Russian President Vladimir Putin amid an ongoing US push for a peace settlement.
“Europe looks lost,” Zelensky said in his speech, urging the continent to become a global force. He contrasted Europe’s response with Washington’s bold steps in Venezuela and Iran.
The former comic actor referred to the movie Groundhog Day, in which the main character must relive the same day over and over again.
“Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words: Europe needs to know how to defend itself. A year has passed. And nothing has changed. We are still in a situation where I must say the same words again,” Zelensky said.
He said that Ukrainians, too, seem caught in that reality in the war, “repeating the same thing for weeks, months and, of course, for years. And yet that is exactly how we live now. It’s our life”.
His speech came after he met behind closed doors for about an hour in Davos with US President Donald Trump, who described the talks as “very good”. Zelensky called them “productive and meaningful”.
European countries, which see their own future defence at stake in the war on its eastern flank, have provided financial, military and humanitarian support for Kyiv, but not all members of the 27-nation European Union are helping. Ukraine also has been frustrated by political disagreements within Europe over how to deal with Russia, as well as the bloc’s at times slow-moving responses.
Russia’s bigger army has managed to capture about 20 per cent of Ukraine since hostilities began in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of 2022. But the battlefield gains along the roughly 1,000km front line have been costly for Moscow, and the Russian economy is feeling the consequences of the war and international sanctions.
Zelensky is also striving to keep the world’s attention focused on Ukraine despite other conflicts.
Russian assets
Moscow is willing to contribute $1 billion to President Trump’s “Board of Peace” for Gaza, but that would require unfreezing Russian assets held in the US, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin said on Thursday.
In a meeting at the Kremlin with Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Putin said that if money blocked during the Biden administration were released, it could be used to support the Palestinian people and rebuild the Gaza Strip.
