Zelensky to meet Trump in Davos as U.S. envoys head to Moscow
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Zelensky and Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty
Ukrainian President Zelensky is planning to travel to Davos on Thursday for a meeting with President Trump.
Split screen: Zelensky plans to meet Trump in the Alps soon before White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner head to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both meetings will focus on Trump's peace plan for Ukraine.
- The U.S. is close to agreement with Ukraine on the terms of that plan, but has so far had little clear success in getting Putin on board. The Russian president hasn't rejected the plan, but his public response to it has been less than enthusiastic.
- The fact that Russia has yet to accept the 20-point plan is one reason the White House didn't want to sign a "prosperity plan" for Ukraine during the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.
- Trump confirmed he will meet Zelensky in a conversation with reporters after his speech at Davos.
What he's saying: "I think Russia wants to make a deal, I think Ukraine wants to make a deal. I think I can say we are relatively close," Trump said on stage.
- "I think they they can get a deal done and if they don't they are stupid... I don't want to insult anyone but you have to get this deal done. Too many people are dying. It's not worth it."
Driving the news: Witkoff said in an interview with CNBC that he and Kushner would meet Putin on Thursday. The Kremlin later confirmed it.
- Witkoff and Kushner met on Tuesday in Davos with Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev and discussed the U.S. peace plan. Dmitriev called the meeting "constructive."
- The U.S. informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's team about the plan to travel to Moscow.
Split screen: The crisis between the U.S. and its European allies over Greenland has pushed aside plans to hold talks on Ukraine in Davos.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decided not to travel to Switzerland earlier this week after a massive Russian attack left parts of Ukraine facing water and electricity shortages amid a brutal winter.
This story was updated with Zelensky's plans to travel to Davos.
