Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused European leaders of being in “Greenland mode” at Davos on Thursday, criticising them for waiting for Donald Trump to lead on Ukraine rather than taking action themselves.
Zelenskyy’s speech, which targeted some of Kyiv’s top allies, capped a week of diplomatic drama at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort, where European leaders scrambled to end a standoff with the White House over Greenland.
The Ukrainian president used his speech to push for greater pressure on the Kremlin, as Trump sent his envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin on Thursday in the latest effort to advance peace talks between the two countries.
Despite Trump’s limited support for Ukraine since taking office one year ago, Zelenskyy focused on Europe’s role in the conflict, accusing the continent’s leaders of complacency and inaction.
“Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words ‘Europe needs to know how to defend itself’,” Zelenskyy said. “A year has passed, and nothing has changed.”
He added: “Europe remains in Greenland mode: maybe someone somewhere will do something.”
Zelenskyy’s speech nodded towards Trump’s demands for the US to take over Greenland, but largely avoided criticising the US president, instead blaming Europeans for remaining at the mercy of an increasingly unpredictable White House.
He delivered his speech as Ukraine endures a bitter winter, with Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure cutting power and heating to much of the capital Kyiv and other major cities across the country.
Headlines and talks during the annual gathering of world leaders and business figures have been dominated by Trump’s demands to take over Greenland and his announcement of a “future framework of a deal” that would allow the US access to Greenland “forever”.
“Everyone gave attention to Greenland, and it is clear most leaders are not sure what to do about it,” Zelenskyy said. “It seems like everyone is just waiting for America to cool down on this topic, hoping it will pass away. But what if it does not: what then?”
Some European leaders have echoed those sentiments, with Poland’s Donald Tusk calling Greenland an “unneeded” distraction from Russia’s war in Ukraine and efforts to disrupt Europe.
Ireland’s Micheál Martin said European leaders “cannot lose focus on the situation in Ukraine”, calling the situation “desperate”, but crediting the US with a “critical” role in achieving “a just and fair and sustainable peace in Ukraine”.
“Sending 14 or 40 soldiers to Greenland – what is that meant to achieve?” Zelenskyy said. “What message does that send to Putin? To China? And perhaps, most importantly, what message does it send to Denmark?”
During his speech, he also suggested Ukraine could help defend Europe in the event of a Russian invasion of Greenland, saying: “We know what to do if Russian warships go near Greenland, Ukraine can help with that. They can sink near Greenland just as they do near Crimea.”
Zelenskyy said Europe should play a stronger role in targeting Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers, which help bankroll its war machine, and said it remained too easy for Russia to bypass sanctions and continue mass-producing missiles and other ordnance.
The threats to Europe were existential for NATO, he said, and Europe needed “united armed forces” that could defend the continent.
“Today, Europe relies only on the belief that if danger comes, then NATO will react. But no one has really seen the alliance in action. If Putin decides to take Lithuania or strike Poland, who will respond? Right now, NATO exists thanks to the belief that the United States will act … but what if it doesn’t?”
Zelenskyy’s speech came shortly after he met Trump to discuss stalled talks for a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump told reporters his meeting with Zelenskyy was “good” but that there was “a ways to go”. Witkoff, who was to meet Putin later on Thursday, said the fact the meeting was called by the Russians was a good sign.
“I think we’ve got it down to one issue and we have discussed iterations of that issue, and that means it’s solvable,” Witkoff said before flying to Moscow. He was joined by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Asked at Davos whether he had a message for Putin, Trump said: “The war has to end.”
Trump on Thursday also unveiled his international “board of peace”, established to manage a peace process in Gaza. Critics have said the ill-defined board appears to be a shadow United Nations.
Ukraine, along with Russia and Belarus, had been invited to join the initiative but so far had declined.
“For us, it’s understandable that we will be on this board when the war will end,” Zelenskyy said. For now “we are enemies [with the Russians]. Belarus is an ally of the Russians. We can’t be with them.”
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