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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted his European allies Thursday for what he portrayed as the continent\u2019s slow, fragmented and inadequate response to\u00a0Russia\u2019s invasion\u00a0nearly four years ago and its\u00a0continued international aggression.<\/p>\n
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy 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\u00a0U.S. push for a peace settlement.<\/p>\n
\u201cEurope looks lost,\u201d Zelenskyy said in his speech, urging the continent to become a global force. He contrasted Europe\u2019s response with Washington\u2019s bold steps in Venezuela and Iran.<\/p>\n
The former comic actor referred to the movie \u201cGroundhog Day,\u201d in which the main character must relive the same day over and over again.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust 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,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n
He said that Ukrainians, too, seem caught in that reality in the war, \u201crepeating the same thing for weeks, months and, of course, for years. And yet that is exactly how we live now. It\u2019s our life.\u201d<\/p>\n
His speech came after he met behind closed doors for about an hour in\u00a0Davos\u00a0with U.S. President Donald Trump, who described the talks as \u201cvery good.\u201d Zelenskyy called them \u201cproductive and meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n
European countries, which see their own future defense 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\u2019s at times slow-moving responses.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s bigger army has managed to capture about 20% of Ukraine since hostilities began in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of 2022. But the battlefield gains along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line have been costly for Moscow, and the Russian economy is\u00a0feeling the consequences\u00a0of the war and international sanctions.<\/p>\n
Ukraine is short of money and, despite significantly boosting its own arms manufacturing, still needs Western weaponry. It is also short-handed on the front line. Its defense minister\u00a0last week reported\u00a0some 200,000 troop desertions and draft-dodging by about 2 million Ukrainians.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy is also striving to keep the world\u2019s attention focused on Ukraine despite other conflicts.<\/p>\n
He chided Europe for being slow to act on key decisions, spending too little on defense, failing to stop Russia\u2019s\u00a0\u201dshadow fleet\u201d of oil tankers\u00a0that are breaking international sanctions, and balking at using\u00a0its frozen assets\u00a0in Europe to finance Ukraine, among other things.<\/p>\n
Europe, he said, \u201cstill feels more like a geography, history, a tradition, not a real political force, not a great power.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome Europeans are really strong, it\u2019s true, but many say we must stand strong, and they always want someone else to tell them how long they need to stand strong, preferably until the next election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration is pushing for a peace settlement, with its envoys shuttling between Kyiv and Moscow in a flurry of negotiations that some worry could force Ukraine into an unfavorable deal.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow late Thursday and sat down for more talks with Putin, the Kremlin said.<\/p>\n
One major issue remains to be resolved in negotiations, Witkoff said at Davos, without saying what it was. Zelenskyy said the future status of land in eastern Ukraine currently occupied by Russia is unresolved but that peace proposals are \u201cnearly ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
Postwar security guarantees, should a deal be reached, are agreed between the U.S. and Ukraine, although they would require each country\u2019s ratification, he said.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy said two days of trilateral meetings involving the U.S., Ukraine and Russia are due to begin Friday in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussians have to be ready for compromises because, you know, everybody has to be ready, not only Ukraine, and this is important for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump and Zelenskyy have had a\u00a0fraught relationship, and the American president has\u00a0at times also rebuked Putin.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy said he thanked Trump for providing U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems that can help stop Russian missiles that are repeatedly hitting Ukraine\u2019s power grid, causing\u00a0hardship for civilians\u00a0denied light, heating and running water. He said he asked Trump for more of them.<\/p>\n
After Trump cut support for Ukraine, other NATO countries began buying weapons from the U.S. to donate to Kyiv under a\u00a0special financial arrangement.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Hrabchuk reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Europe #lost #Zelensky #Trumps #actions #Venezuela #Iran #embarrass #Groundhog #Day #movie #Davos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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