The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quite candid in his address in Davos, Switzerland, where he cut through the rhetoric on the state of diplomacy in the region, leaving a stark reality for Europe to face. It’s been nearly four years since the Russian-Ukraine conflict, which put the region in crisis, but the European forces are yet to acquire the strength on their own to stage a war on the same grounds, he said, adding that they will once again be forced to turn to the U.S.
Europe’s Defence Gap in Numbers
Zelensky told world leaders that there has been a time that most states in Europe did not attain the simplest of defence spending targets until pressure was applied. According to NATO statistics, only 11 out of 31 countries reached the 2% of the GPD requirement in 2024, while some countries just raised their defence spending gradually if there was constant pressure from Washington until they reached 2.5%. His point was simple delay can equal denial.
Call for a United European Armed Force
To a great extent, Zelensky’s core argument was one for structural change. Rather than relying on NATO’s collective defense guarantee, Zelensky warned Europe to assemble a completely integrated military. Indeed, as the European Defense Agency points out, the present fragmented procurement costs for the EU amount to an enormous 25 billion euros annually. In this respect, a unified army, reckoned Zelensky, is one that avoids duplication and protects before threats spin completely out of control.
Greenland & the Arctic Warning
Zelensky criticized the European position in the Arctic and emphasized that symbolic actions are not worth it. He explained that a couple of dozen soldiers in Greenland are not going to send a message to the Russians or the Chinese. The Arctic is now increasingly becoming a military space with over 50 military facilities operated by Russians. He emphasized that the major waters and routes might move out of Europe and democratic control if Europe is now absent in the Arctic.
NATO, US & Strategic Uncertainty
Zelensky, however, was questioning something that every European capital takes for granted “the American guarantee no matter what.” His reasoning was that “NATO is more about trust than about the reply. It was never about how we should respond to a direct attack by Europeans anyway.” Then he took everyone aback with his honest query: with changing American domestic politics, “what if we start losing this trust?”
Trump’s Push for a Deal & Ukraine’s Reality
US President Donald Trump took a different tone as he emphasized negotiation and progress toward bringing an end to the war in a speech in Davos. The stock markets welcomed the news but left President Zelensky skeptical. “We wanted to announce that we would want solid security guarantees and not a string of ceasefires that will last only a week,” he told a meeting of NATO leaders and US Vice President Mike Pence earlier in the day. Drone strikes claim the lives of thousands every week.
‘War Has to End’: Trump Pushes Diplomacy After Zelensky Meeting
The US President Donald Trump said after his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Davos that the conflict in Ukraine “has to end”, and he mentioned that a US delegation will travel to meet Vladimir Putin soon as Washington increases its efforts to get a negotiated settlement.
