Attacks by Donald Trump against his NATO allies over Greenland, the Chagos islands and the future of global security have sidelined critical plans to secure new support for Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, was expected to attend a gathering of world leaders in the Swiss ski resort of Davos this week to sign an economic prosperity package with the US and European allies that diplomats had been working to finalise, according to a Ukrainian diplomatic source.
The source said there had also been an aspiration to seal a bilateral agreement between Washington and Kyiv that would include US security guarantees for Ukraine.
It’s something the Ukrainian side have long been trying to lock in as they fight to ensure the sovereignty of their country following any future peace accord with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
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However, on Tuesday, Mr Zelenskyy suddenly delayed his Davos travel schedule, saying he would only head to Switzerland if documents on security guarantees and the prosperity plan were ready to be signed there.
Instead, the only confirmed offer from the US president appears to be an invitation for Ukraine to join what he is calling a “Board of Peace” – an invitation that has also been extended to Mr Putin.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, appears far more focused on other areas of the globe that he sees as being in America’s national interest rather than the future of Ukraine.
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This includes a threat to acquire Greenland even though the vast Arctic territory is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO ally.
The US president has also unleashed a blistering attack against Sir Keir Starmer over a decision by the UK government to hand the Chagos Islands – including Diego Garcia, which hosts a vital, joint American-British military base – back to Mauritius.
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The blunt language from Mr Trump and his administration – accusing the Starmer government of weakness and of letting its US partners down – could point to a widening rift in what was once a special relationship.
Any unravelling of that bond would be particularly devastating for the UK, given its uniquely close cooperation with the US – even reliance on – over a range of military capabilities, such as nuclear weapons, warplanes and missiles.
With the future of the entire NATO alliance at stake, Mr Trump and his demands are dominating the agenda at Davos instead of the future of Ukraine, even as its people freeze after repeated Russian missile strikes against power stations across the country that have caused widespread blackouts and an energy state of emergency.
The FT first reported that European opposition to Mr Trump’s Greenland threats and his Board for Peace had disrupted plans for the economic support package for postwar Ukraine.
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The Ukrainian diplomatic source said the plan for Davos had been for an $800bn “prosperity package” to be signed by Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Trump, as well as potentially US security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a bilateral agreement.
This was “almost ready for signing”, the source added.
A second Ukrainian source said: “The Americans were not ready to sign, but if they are ready, they will sign. There were still some technical issues in the agreement that needed to be finalised.”
