Trump to meet Zelensky amid Kyiv blackout and winter humanitarian crisis

Donald Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Davos as Kyiv struggles to restore heat, water and electricity after a sustained wave of missile and drone strikes that officials say battered the capital’s energy infrastructure. The meeting, scheduled for 1 p.m. (1200 GMT) with Zelenskyy slated to speak at 2:30 p.m. (1330 GMT), comes as Ukrainian authorities scramble to tend to urgent humanitarian needs and press partners for security guarantees and reconstruction funding.

Ukrainian officials described the assault as the year’s longest sustained strike on Kyiv, with the Ukrainian air force reporting “hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles” in an attack whose primary wave lasted roughly 10 hours. Local authorities said at least two people were killed and 44 wounded. The strikes primarily hit civilian and energy installations, leaving about 4,000 buildings without heat and, by Zelenskyy’s account, nearly 60 percent of the capital without power. Earlier assessments put the number of people without heat and electricity at “hundreds of thousands.” Temperatures in Kyiv have plunged as low as −20 C (−4 F), deepening the humanitarian emergency.

Faced with the blackout, municipal services and emergency crews focused on restoring critical heating to apartment blocks and hospitals while coordinating aid shipments and temporary shelters. Zelenskyy initially said he would remain in Kyiv unless there was a concrete opportunity to sign an agreement with Trump offering security guarantees and post-war reconstruction support; officials later confirmed he traveled to Switzerland for the timed meeting in Davos.

Diplomacy at Davos and beyond underscores how the strikes are shaping high-stakes negotiations. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, who plans talks in Moscow as well as meetings with Ukrainian representatives, said at Davos that negotiators have narrowed the disputes and that “I think we've got it down to one issue” and that “a lot of progress” had been made. Kremlin officials declined to confirm whether Moscow shared that optimism. Zelenskyy has conditioned his engagement on concrete commitments for security and reconstruction, making that package central to the Davos encounter.

The strikes add immediate economic and policy pressures. Damage to energy infrastructure intensifies winter vulnerability, raises short-term humanitarian costs and will increase Ukraine’s reconstruction bill. Disruptions to power and heating degrade productive capacity and public services, risk longer-term migration from urban centers and complicate fiscal planning for Kyiv and its international backers. Donors and financial markets will watch whether any Davos accords include pledges of aid, access to frozen assets, or multiyear financing instruments that could underpin reconstruction and sovereign borrowing.

Markets and defense planners are likely to read the strikes and the outcomes of Davos talks as a test of Western unity on security guarantees and funding. A durable agreement containing clear security assurances and reconstruction commitments would reduce political uncertainty and ease pressure on Ukraine’s fiscal position; failure to lock in specifics could harden Kyiv’s immediate financing needs and bolster defense spending as a priority.

Casualty and damage assessments remain incomplete and negotiators acknowledge at least one outstanding sticking point. As Kyiv grapples with a rolling blackout in subzero temperatures, the Davos meeting will be measured not just in diplomatic terms but in whether it can accelerate material support that stabilizes the city and frames a post-war recovery plan.