Zelenskiy undecided on Davos trip as Trump meeting remains uncertain

A senior Ukrainian official said on Jan. 20 that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has not yet committed to attending the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos because it remains unclear whether he would hold a substantive, in-person meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Kyiv has meanwhile been preparing detailed documents on security guarantees and a wider economic and reconstruction plan in anticipation of talks.

Ukrainian envoys working ahead of Davos have negotiated draft texts intended to underpin security guarantees and a broader reconstruction framework. Officials described substantive progress in those interchanges, and Zelenskiy said in a nightly address, "They are working on the documents needed to end the war." A figure identified only as "Umerov" posted on social media that there had been "substantive discussions on economic development and prosperity plan as well as security guarantees for Ukraine."

The Ukrainian official's dated non-commitment represents Kyiv's on-the-record posture as of Jan. 20: the president will travel only if a meaningful bilateral meeting with Trump is assured. That stance contrasts with expectations circulating in international diplomatic circles that a Davos encounter could provide the venue for a formal signing of new security guarantees tied to a possible ceasefire timetable. For now, however, neither a meeting nor a signature is guaranteed.

President Trump is attending Davos in person and is scheduled to address the forum. He will arrive with a large U.S. delegation described as the largest yet at the WEF, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner. Trump's presence has elevated hopes for high-profile bilateral talks, but both U.S. and Ukrainian officials caution that outcomes depend on last-minute confirmations and political calculus in Washington and Kyiv.

Diplomacy at Davos is further complicated by reports that Kirill Dmitriev, long considered a close confidant and special envoy of President Vladimir Putin, is likely to travel to the forum. Moscow's announcement that Dmitriev would be en route has prompted concern among analysts that the Kremlin could seek to influence or pre-empt any U.S.-Ukraine understandings by engaging with interlocutors before agreements are finalized. The prospect is striking against the World Economic Forum's decision in March 2022 to freeze formal ties with Russian entities and persons, a policy that has kept senior Russian officials largely absent from Davos gatherings since then.

The current diplomacy builds on earlier talks between Zelenskiy and Trump at the latter's Palm Beach residence, where leaders said they had largely narrowed a 20-point plan while leaving the "thorny issue" of Donbas unresolved. Trump has signaled optimism, saying, "I think we'll get it done," while declining to set a timetable.

As Davos approaches, Kyiv's approach is cautious. The government has invested staff time and political capital in drafting binding security texts and a reconstruction blueprint that could anchor a ceasefire, but officials insist that any travel or signature must be backed by concrete assurances of an enforceable, verifiable deal. The presence of high-level American delegates raises the possibility of progress, yet the reported arrival of a Kremlin confidant and remaining gaps over Donbas mean that a breakthrough in Davos is far from assured.