US President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine would be “stupid” if they failed to reach a peace agreement, adding that he was due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Davos tomorrow, reports RTE.
Mr Trump had earlier claimed he would meet Mr Zelensky at the World Economic Forum today, despite Ukrainian officials stating that the leader of the country resisting a Russian invasion was not present, reports RTE.
Speaking to global leaders at the forum, the US president said he would meet Mr Zelensky “today” and even suggested that he “might be in the audience”, a claim later contradicted by an adviser to the Ukrainian president.
Dmytro Lytvyn told journalists “the president is in Kyiv”, where much of the city remained without electricity and residents in 4,000 buildings were without heating in sub-zero conditions following Russian strikes earlier this week, reports RTE.
Shortly afterwards, when asked by a reporter whether the meeting with Mr Zelensky would take place today or tomorrow, Mr Trump responded: “I believe it’s tomorrow.”
Mr Trump again expressed his long-held view that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mr Zelensky were close to finalising a deal, saying that “too many people are dying” in the conflict that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, reports RTE.
“I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid – that goes for both of them,” said Mr Trump during a brief exchange with a moderator following his address.
He added that while both leaders had previously stepped back from an agreement, a deal was now “reasonably close,”, reports RTE.
Earlier in his remarks, Mr Trump criticised NATO, arguing that the United States had gained little from the transatlantic military alliance, which has underpinned Washington’s influence in Europe since the end of World War II.
“What does the United States get out of all of this work, all of this money, other than death, destruction and massive amounts of cash going to people who don’t appreciate what we do?” he said, reports RTE.
“They don’t appreciate what we do. I’m talking about NATO, I’m talking about Europe, reports RTE.
He added that countries involved need to work to bring the conflict to an end.
“We have a big beautiful ocean separating us. We have nothing to do with it,” he said, reports RTE.
Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky has expressed concern that Mr Trump’s push to take control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark, which has dominated discussions in Davos, could distract attention from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I’m worried about any loss of focus during a full-scale war,” Mr Zelensky told reporters yesterday, reports RTE.
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