G7 leaders to press Donald Trump in Davos to back security guarantees for Ukraine - FT

Leaders of Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as well as the head of the European Commission, are expected to take part in a planned leaders’ meeting with US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, according to four officials familiar with the plans.

Officials are still negotiating the details of the meeting, which is expected to take place on January 21 and could also include other leaders from the so-called Coalition of the Willing. National security advisers from the coalition are also planning to hold a separate meeting.

According to Bloomberg, leaders in Davos intend to secure Trump’s approval for agreements reached in Paris last week that are viewed as critical to preventing a renewed war. Those talks involved the Coalition of the Resolute, including Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and senior European defense commanders.

The leaders of Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and the United Kingdom are seeking Trump’s personal backing for security guarantees for Ukraine, the report says.

At the same time, European officials remain concerned about the scale of Trump’s personal commitment to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia. Those concerns are fueled by several incidents over the past year in which he made sharply pro-Russian remarks about the conflict.

One European official involved in the talks said that without the United States, such plans would not be viable, noting that it remains unclear what Trump ultimately believes, particularly in the context of discussions between Britain and France on deploying troops to Ukraine after a ceasefire.

The report adds that the presence of six G7 leaders along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would mark a record level of G7 representation at the Davos forum.

Security guarantees for Ukraine

On January 8, President Zelenskyy said that a bilateral document on US security guarantees for Ukraine is nearly ready and that the next step would be finalization at the highest level. On January 12, he said he had received a detailed briefing from the negotiating team on contacts with the US side and instructed them to finalize the document.

Ukraine is discussing security guarantees with partners on land, in the air, and at sea. According to Zelenskyy, Trump could provide clarity on the timeframe for such guarantees during their meeting.