US-Ukraine peace talks to continue in Davos, Kyiv's top negotiator says
Ukrainian and U.S. officials will continue peace proposal discussions during the World Economic Forum in Davos, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov said Jan. 18.
The World Economic Forum's flagship annual summit will be held in Switzerland on Jan. 19–23, where Ukraine and the U.S. will reportedly sign an economic deal.
Umerov said that he and senior Ukrainian officials spent two days in the United States holding consultations with their American counterparts, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, U.S. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, and White House staffer Josh Gruenbaum.
In addition to Umerov, the Ukrainian delegation included Kyrylo Budanov, recently appointed Head of the President's Office, and David Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party.
The talks focused on economic development, a prosperity plan, and security guarantees for Ukraine, with an emphasis on practical mechanisms for implementation and enforcement, Umerov said. Ukrainian officials also briefed U.S. partners on recent Russian attacks targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Umerov said both sides "agreed to continue the work at the team level during the next stage of consultations in Davos."
The Ukrainian delegation arrived in the U.S. on Jan. 17, days after Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to reach a deal to end Russia's full-scale war, but Ukraine is not.
"I think (Putin's) ready to make a deal. I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal," Trump claimed on Jan. 14, adding that Zelensky is holding up the effort.
"We have to get President Zelensky to go along with it," he said.
Ukraine has agreed to several U.S.-backed peace proposals. Russia has agreed to none and continues to wage the war it launched nearly four years ago.
Trump and Zelensky earlier met in Florida on Dec. 28, where the two leaders described the talks as productive.
Before meeting Trump, Zelensky, on Dec. 26, said that a 20-point peace plan is 90% complete, and he views the meeting with the U.S. leader as an opportunity to ensure that everything is 100% ready.
Ukraine has been open to major concessions, including holding off on NATO membership if strong security guarantees are in place and withdrawing troops from potential "free economic zones" amid the Kremlin's demand that Kyiv withdraw from eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast.
On Jan. 18, the "Coalition of the Willing" held an online meeting at the level of armed forces commanders-in-chief to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Syrskyi told Kyiv's allies that Russia shows no readiness to end its war against Ukraine and continues its "terror" against civilians, pointing to strikes on energy infrastructure during severe winter weather.
"I emphasized the importance of further strengthening sanctions pressure on Russia so that the cost of the war becomes prohibitive," he said, adding that allies must also deepen cooperation to boost defense-industrial capacity and military capabilities across Europe.
