WASHINGTON DC – President Volodymyr Zelensky is once again running against the clock.
After hinting he might skip Davos altogether, the Ukrainian president is now racing to the Alps for a high-stakes, hastily arranged meeting with Donald Trump – a rendezvous announced by Trump himself after days of uncertainty over whether it would happen at all.
By Thursday morning, the fate of Ukraine’s war, the unity of the Western alliance and Trump’s own claim to be the world’s dealmaker-in-chief may hinge on a conversation neither side seemed sure would occur.
Meeting that almost didn’t happen
On Tuesday, Zelensky publicly cast doubt on the encounter, warning a bilateral meeting would not take place “if partners are not ready,” even as Russian missiles continued to pound Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
By Wednesday, Trump reversed the suspense.
“We’re reasonably close,” the US president said at the summit, announcing he would meet Zelensky later in the day.
“I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done,” he said of Russia and Ukraine, adding, “And if they don’t, they’re stupid.”
The remark – aimed at both Zelensky and Vladimir Putin – rippled through Davos as diplomats tried to decipher whether Trump was signaling momentum or simply venting.
Before Greenland seized the global spotlight, Davos had been expected to host something far more consequential: the signing of an economic framework for rebuilding postwar Ukraine and, potentially, the outline of US security guarantees for Kyiv.
That ceremony never materialized.
Envoys, oligarchs and frozen assets
While Trump and Zelensky circle each other in Switzerland, Trump’s envoys are already moving.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, on the sidelines of Davos.
Umerov told reporters the talks focused on security guarantees and a postwar recovery plan, including discussions with BlackRock, the US investment giant involved in rebuilding proposals.
But the envoys’ real destination lies east.
On Thursday, Witkoff and Kushner are due in Moscow for talks with Putin before heading on to the UAE to convene working groups.
Putin later confirmed he would meet them, saying frozen Russian assets – and their possible use in rebuilding war-torn regions – are on the agenda.
“This possibility is also under discussion with representatives of the US administration,” Putin told his Security Council, according to Russian news agencies.
For Kyiv, the choreography is unsettling: Trump’s men in the Kremlin, Trump himself preparing to see Zelensky – and the outlines of a deal still dangerously vague.
“The most dangerous moment”
No one watching this drama sounds more alarmed than Yuriy Boyechko, the CEO of the US-based charity Hope For Ukraine, who says the Davos meeting could mark a turning point – for the worse.
“Trump is viewing the European ‘snub’ as a betrayal, and he is prepared to vent that frustration directly onto President Zelensky during their high-stakes meeting this Thursday,” Boyechko told Kyiv Post.
In Boyechko’s account, Trump is no longer merely brokering peace.
“He is increasingly acting as a proxy negotiator for Russian interests, ready to use the threat of a total aid cutoff to ‘punish’ the traditional Western alliance by forcing a Ukrainian capitulation.”
Boyechko warns that Trump’s taunt – that both leaders are “stupid” if they don’t sign – masks a far more coercive strategy.
“Trump’s rhetoric… is a clear attempt to bully Kyiv into a corner,” he said, arguing that current drafts would effectively surrender the Donbas.
“As someone who has monitored these negotiations from the inside, I see this as the most dangerous moment for Ukrainian sovereignty since the invasion began,” he added.
For Zelensky, Boyechko says, the challenge is no longer purely military.
“Zelensky’s task is no longer just about military strategy; it’s about surviving a diplomatic ambush,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader must stand firm against a US president “motivated by personal spite toward European allies and a desire to claim a ‘win’ at any cost – even if that win is written in Moscow.”
And the consequences of a stumble would echo far beyond Ukraine. “If Zelensky flinches now, he isn’t just losing territory – he’s delegitimizing the ‘Board of Peace’ as a tool for autocrats to bypass international law,” Boyechko emphasized.
Western allies, quietly alarmed
Behind closed doors, senior Western officials say the anxiety is real.
One senior European official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Kyiv Post that the Davos encounter has become “the most fragile moment of the war diplomatically.”
“Everyone wants peace,” the official said, “but peace built on coercion, or on humiliating Kyiv in front of Moscow, will not hold.
If the US signals that alliances are optional, the entire security architecture in Europe starts to wobble.”
Another Western official described the mood more bluntly: “We are watching a negotiation where the mediator is also the variable.”
A deal, or a dust cloud
There is still a narrow path to progress.
The latest draft proposals – circulated in late December – would largely freeze front lines where they stand, leave any small land swaps to a Ukrainian referendum, and create special economic zones in parts of the Donbas.
A proposed three-way split of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant between the US, Russia and Ukraine remains a major stumbling block.
If Putin rejects the plan, Davos could yet expose Moscow’s intransigence.
But the past week has already inflicted damage: Trump has bruised European leaders, questioned the alliance and reminded allies that his America can turn on them as quickly as it turns on its enemies.
Ukraine needs guarantees. Europe needs reassurance. Trump wants a win.
Whether those three imperatives can coexist may be decided in a Swiss meeting room, after a wartime president’s overnight dash and a deal-maker’s impulsive announcement.
In Davos, peace is still possible. But for the first time since the invasion, so is the collapse of the very alliance meant to deliver it.