Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives at the presidential palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, 7 January 2026. Photo: EPA / PETROS KARADJIAS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at the World Economic Forum in Davos following a last-minute schedule change to allow him to meet with US President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s national broadcaster Suspilne reported on Thursday.
Though Zelensky had announced on Tuesday that he would remain in Kyiv to oversee relief efforts after repeated Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure left large swathes of the capital without heating, electricity and water, it appeared his plans had changed on Wednesday when Trump repeatedly made reference to the pair’s planned meeting in his long speech at the forum.
Observers suggested that Zelensky’s initial reluctance to travel to Switzerland this week was due in part to the war in Ukraine being overshadowed by a worsening crisis within NATO as Trump continued to make unprecedented territorial demands on Greenland.
However, Trump’s assurance on Wednesday that he wouldn’t use force to secure the island saw a peace deal for Ukraine back on the Davos agenda, with the US president telling delegates that both Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin wanted to make a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump’s controversial attempts to reshape global security structures continued to run into obstacles on Thursday, however, when British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said that the UK would not be among the countries joining his Board of Peace in a signing ceremony due to take place in Davos.
Describing the board, created by Trump to manage the reconstruction of post-war Gaza, as a “legal treaty that raises much broader issues”, Cooper attributed the UK’s decision to the invite Trump had extended to Putin to join the board “when we've still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be commitment to peace in Ukraine”.
