Volodymyr Zelenskyy says warnings to Europe feel like ‘Groundhog Day’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted his European allies Thursday for what he portrayed as the continents slow fragmented and inadequate response to Russias invasion nearly four years ago and its continued international aggression 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 US push for a peace settlementEurope looks lost Zelenskyy said in his speech urging the continent to become a global force He contrasted Europes response with Washingtons bold steps in Venezuela and Iran The former comic actor referred to the movie Groundhog Day in which the main character must relive the same day over and over againJust 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 Zelenskyy said He said that Ukrainians too seem caught in that reality in the war repeating the same thing for weeks months and of course for years And yet that is exactly how we live now Its our lifeA meeting with TrumpHis speech came after he met behind closed doors for about an hour in Davos with US President Donald Trump who described the talks as very good Zelenskyy called them productive and meaningfulEuropean countries which see their own future defence at stake in the war on its eastern flank have provided financial military and humanitarian support for Kyiv but not all members of the 27nation European Union are helping Ukraine also has been frustrated by political disagreements within Europe over how to deal with Russia as well as the blocs at times slowmoving responsesRussias bigger army has managed to capture about 20 per cent of Ukraine since hostilities began in 2014 and its fullscale invasion of 2022 But the battlefield gains along the roughly 1000kilometre 600mile front line have been costly for Moscow and the Russian economy is feeling the consequences of the war and international sanctionsUkraine is short of money and despite significantly boosting its own arms manufacturing still needs Western weaponry It is also shorthanded on the front line Its defence minister last week reported some 200000 troop desertions and draftdodging by about 2 million Ukrainians Zelenskyy is also striving to keep the worlds attention focused on Ukraine despite other conflictsZelenskyy cites inaction on key decisionsHe chided Europe for being slow to act on key decisions spending too little on defence failing to stop Russias shadow fleet of oil tankers that are breaking international sanctions and balking at using its frozen assets in Europe to finance Ukraine among other thingsEurope he said still feels more like a geography history a tradition not a real political force not a great power Some Europeans are really strong its 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 he saidThe 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 unfavourable dealA meeting in MoscowTrumps special envoy Steve Witkoff and his soninlaw Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow late Thursday and sat down for more talks with Putin the Kremlin said 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 nearly readyPostwar security guarantees should a deal be reached are agreed between the US and Ukraine although they would require each countrys ratification he said Zelenskyy said two days of trilateral meetings involving the US Ukraine and Russia are due to begin Friday in the United Arab EmiratesRussians have to be ready for compromises because you know everybody has to be ready not only Ukraine and this is important for us he said Trump and Zelenskyy have had a fraught relationship and the American president has at times also rebuked PutinZelenskyy said he thanked Trump for providing USmade Patriot air defence systems that can help stop Russian missiles that are repeatedly hitting Ukraines power grid causing hardship for civilians denied light heating and running water He said he asked Trump for more of them After Trump cut support for Ukraine other NATO countries began buying weapons from the US to donate to Kyiv under a special financial arrangementThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in 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