Countries in Europe are too busy arguing among themselves to be a ‘truly global power’, Ukrainian president tells Davos
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, spoke during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images
Memphis Barker Senior Foreign Correspondent
22 January 2026
Volodymyr Zelensky said Europe was weak and fragmented in a speech at Davos, attacking its leaders for being too indecisive to stand up to Russia, China or Donald Trump.
The Ukrainian president said European powers were too busy arguing among themselves to join together and become a “truly global power”.
In a remarkably aggressive address to the World Economic Forum on Thursday, he said the countries funding the Ukrainian war effort “love to discuss the future but avoid taking action today”.
He singled out the decision to send “40 soldiers” to Greenland as insufficient to protect the island.
The continent, he said, would remain a “fragmented kaleidoscope” of small and middle powers as it avoided the kind of forceful action that could intimidate its enemies.
“Instead of taking the lead in defending freedom worldwide, especially when America’s focus shifts elsewhere, Europe looks lost trying to convince the US president to change,” Mr Zelensky said.
He also revealed that before he visited Washington to discuss the war with Donald Trump, European leaders told him not to ask for US-made Tomahawk missiles so as not to “spoil the mood”.
Mr Zelensky met Mr Trump on the sidelines at Davos shortly before the Ukrainian leader delivered his broadside against European political inertia.
He said that the talks were “important” and that the documents needed to end the war were “very nearly” ready.
Ukrainian, US and Russian officials will meet in the United Arab Emirates on Friday for a two-day summit intended to restart the peace process, he announced.
Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were due to arrive in Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin on Thursday night.
Throughout his speech, Mr Zelensky contrasted the forcefulness of the US president with the flakiness of European leaders.
They had not spent enough on defence until Mr Trump intervened, he said. “Why can President Trump stop tankers from the shadow fleet and seize oil, when Europe doesn’t?” he added.
Moments after Mr Zelensky’s speech, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, announced that France had seized a Russian “shadow fleet” tanker in the Mediterranean, working on British intelligence.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський
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Thank you, France! Thank you, @EmmanuelMacron! This is exactly the kind of resolve needed to ensure that Russian oil no longer finances Russia’s war. Russian tankers operating near European shores must be stopped. Sanctions against the entire infrastructure of the shadow fleet Show more
Emmanuel Macron
@EmmanuelMacron
We will not tolerate any violation. This morning, the French Navy boarded an oil tanker coming from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag. The operation was conducted on the high seas in the Mediterranean,
Europe had failed to stop the sale of missile components to Russia and blocked the use of Moscow’s frozen assets to aid Ukraine’s war effort, Mr Zelensky said.
“Thank you Keir, thank you Emmanuel,” he said, in recognition of pledges to deploy troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. But he added that Mr Trump’s “backstop” was needed to truly secure peace.
European leaders have previously counselled Mr Zelensky to flatter Mr Trump and may recognise the strategy in his speech. But the criticism is likely to rankle nonetheless, given that European nations are now providing almost all the funds and weapons going to Ukraine.
While Mr Trump has ended US aid, the European Parliament approved a €90bn (£78bn) support loan earlier this week.
Turning to Greenland, the Ukrainian president mocked European nations for sending too few troops to the island for any meaningful defence.
“Forty soldiers will not protect anything,” he said. “What message does that send to Putin, to China – and even more importantly, what message does that send to Denmark, your close ally?”
Ukraine has the technology and expertise to sink any Russian warships that approach Greenland, Mr Zelensky suggested.
“We know how to fight there if we were asked and if Ukraine were in Nato,” he said, adding: “But we are not.”
The Ukrainian president began his speech with a reference to Groundhog Day, saying he was repeating his message from last year.
“Europe needs to know how to defend itself. A year has passed and nothing has changed.”
The continent ought to form its own joint armed forces, he said, as trust in Nato was fraying.
That alliance exists “on the belief that the US will help” in the event of a crisis. “But what if it does not?”
In one of his most pointed comments to date, he called out Hungary’s Victor Orban, seen by many as Putin’s closest ally in the EU.
“Every ‘Viktor’ who lives off European money while trying to sell out European interests deserves a slap in the face,” he said.
Mr Orban replied on X: “It seems to me that we will not be able to come to an understanding. I am a free man who serves the Hungarian people. You are a man in a desperate position who, for the fourth year now, has been unable or unwilling to bring a war to an end—despite the fact that the president of the United States has provided every possible assistance to do so.
“Therefore, no matter how much you flatter me, we cannot support your war efforts. The Ukrainian people, of course – despite your carefully chosen insults – can still count on us to continue supplying your country with electricity and fuel, and we will also continue to support refugees arriving from Ukraine.
“Life itself will settle the rest, and everyone will get what they deserve.”
I seldom or ever disagree with anything Zel says and this is no exception.
Comments were trolled to unprecedented levels. I will insert some of the decent ones.
You cannot agree more with what Mr. Zelensky said. It’s something not unknown to us on here. Even as we approach the fourth anniversary of this terrible war, European leaders are like children, playing, bickering, and throwing sand around in a sandbox. Their continued weakness makes me want to vomit.
And just because France, Italy, and Germany stopped some illegal tankers, it doesn’t mean a change in their attitude. A real change is upon us when such actions become common, and not exceptions.
It should never be forgotten that the weakness of the West provoked this war in the first place.
Virtually every European that I know is also disgusted with this nonstop cowardice. They don’t feel safe with leaders who cower beneath their desks and wet their pants.
I posted comments on the wrong article! Sorry!
Here they are from the DT :
Comment from :
David Foster Wallace
Best line. What a slapdown:
“Every ‘Viktor’ who lives off European money while trying to sell out European interests deserves a slap in the face,” he said.
JOHNATHAN Westley Stoot
He’s right about Hungary though. I am surprised the Hungarian people continue to support Orban – shame on them really. Pretty spot on with the indecisiveness of Europe too. I am not sure this was the forum for Zelensky to deliver these home truths, though? I wonder what his motivations are?
Nigel Dennison
Reply to JOHNATHAN Westley Stoot
His motivation is that he is trying to save his country from Putin and vacillating allies .
William Metis
He just kissed goodbye to Eastern Ukraine.
Hairy Plotter
Reply to William Metis
Ukraine’s 426th Air Command recently stated ,” We’ve reached russia’s best defended airbase, we’ll reach the others too”. (Dzhankoy Airbase, main controll tower AND command centre.) Basically regional brain for most all regional air traffic.
Peter Leigh
Zelensky is right – the Europeans talk a good game but until there’s a majority-to-pass rule rather and absolutely-everyone-has-to-agree rule, then nothing gets done. All this BS about Zelensky not wanting to end the war – if you were in his shoes, and actually think about that before spouting off, is absolute rubbish. The biggest roadblock to peace is Putin who still pushes maximalist his goals and hasn’t, so far, shown any desire to negotiate. It is in Europe’s interest to halt Russia, it is in Ukraine’s interest to halt Russia, the US don’t care unless the optics look good and Putin, it seems, wants it to continue. So, EU leaders, instead of continually talking about what may happen in the future, do something about the ‘now’. Stop vacillating.
Annabel Jolly
Zelensky is spot on. Europe needs an effective army. But it will never happen – just endless squabbling about which country gets to make the widgets and who will supply the fish to the canteen. As a committed remainer, I am beginning to feel that perhaps the EU is a genuinely flawed concept.
Lorna Mann
2026 is the year on the battlefield Ukraine can turn the tide, they didn’t have what you would call proper Army Corps when the war started and its taken this long for them to get organised and arrange and create proper Army Corps and Army structure.
They’ll go on the offensive this year, Russia only has one tactic and that is throw bodies at the defensive line.
If Europe supports with ammo and military gear your see the Russian lines crumble this year.
Roger Blank
Reply to Lorna Mann
Ironically as modern warfare has morphed, Europe will need the knowledge of Ukraine, especially with regards to drone warfare.
Roger Powell
One other factor is that Ukraine has skills, technology and tactics far ahead of any NATO country, as it has been at actual war for 4 years. It has defeated the Russian Navy and thwarted the Russian air force whilst halting the Russian army. We should be very keen to learn from them about drones, combined arms warfare etc etc.
Sven Daman
Orban is the irrelevant leader of an irrelevant country. He has run Hungary into the ground. In the 1990s it was the richest country in the Warsaw bloc, with a strong industrial base, an educated workforce, and well-developed infrastructure (largely thanks to the Austrians). Today, it is one of the worst-performing economies in Central Europe, miles behind the Baltics and Poland, and soon to be overtaken by Romania and Bulgaria, once the poorest EU states. An absolute disaster. And then he has the cheek to attack Zelensky. What a clown.
Cecily Sharp
Apparently the average age of Ukranian men fighting is forty five?
Europe has an ageing demographic.
Sven Daman
Reply to Cecily Sharp
This is because Ukraine does not recruit men under age of 25. This is done to protect demographics. Ukraine fights a technological defensive war which does not require thousands of 18 years old who can do 150 push ups and run around like absolute clowns. Ukraine does have special forces for special operations (equivalent to american Delta or Navy seals) but they are barely required. It is mostly about sitting in front of a monitor, wearing goggles navigating a FPV drone or loading a self propelled Bohdana howitzer.
David Pope
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, a man who was hitherto in comedy and entertainment, including starring in a popular tv series called ‘Servant of the People’ as, ironically enough, a fictional Ukrainian president, has more backbone than most of our career politician western leaders rolled together.
I swear the man has more love for his country and its people in one of his fingernails than our less-than-illustrious ‘leader’ possesses for the U.K. in his entire body. His political party is actually the same name as the fictional party he ‘led’ in his tv career ~ ‘Servant of the People’ ~ the name having been registered by members of his own tv production team.
Is Zelenskyy perfect? No, of course not, far from it ~ he’s just a human being. But he’s had approval ratings in Ukraine of the sort that Starmer would likely kill for here.
When in the fullness of time the history books about the early part of the 21st century are written, I’d lay a pound to a penny that the name Zelenskyy will feature rather more prominently and given rather more respect than any given to Starmer. Boy, we could do with someone a bit more like Zelenskyy than Two-Tier-Keir at the helm of the U.K. right about now