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Ukraine’s Zelensky slams ‘fragmented’ Europe, says it looks lost facing Trump

In a fiery speech at Davos, the president also blasted EU allies for lack of ‘political will’ in countering Russia’s Putin

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. Photo: Keystone via AP
Agence France-Presse

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday 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 Zelensky had met with US President Donald Trump, a conversation which he said brought agreement about what post-war US security guarantees for Ukraine would look like.

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.

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But in a marked departure from his usual warm rhetoric towards the EU, Kyiv’s main political and financial backers, 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.

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

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and US President Donald Trump shake hands during their meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via Reuters
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and US President Donald Trump shake hands during their meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via Reuters
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