Ukraine's Zelenskyy says his repeated warnings to Europe feel like 'Groundhog Day'

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted his European allies Thursday for what he portrayed as the continent’s slow, fragmented and inadequate response to Russia’s invasion nearly four years ago and its continued international aggression.

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy listed a litany of grievances and criticisms of Europe that he said have left Ukraine at the mercy of Russian President Vladimir Putin amid an ongoing U.S. push for a peace settlement.

“Europe looks lost,” Zelenskyy said in his speech, urging the continent to become a global force. He contrasted Europe’s response with Washington’s bold steps in Venezuela and Iran.

The former comic actor referred to the movie “Groundhog Day,” in which the main character must relive the same day over and over again.

“Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words: Europe needs to know how to defend itself. A year has passed. And nothing has changed. We are still in a situation where I must say the same words again,” Zelenskyy said.

He said that Ukrainians, too, seem caught in that reality in the war, "repeating the same thing for weeks, months and, of course, for years. And yet that is exactly how we live now. It’s our life.”

His speech came after he met behind closed doors for about an hour in Davos with U.S. President Donald Trump, who described the talks as “very good.” Zelenskyy called them “productive and meaningful.”

European countries, which see their own future defense at stake in the war on its eastern flank, have provided financial, military and humanitarian support for Kyiv, but not all members of the 27-nation European Union are helping. Ukraine also has been frustrated by political disagreements within Europe over how to deal with Russia, as well as the bloc’s at times slow-moving responses.

Russia’s bigger army has managed to capture about 20% of Ukraine since hostilities began in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of 2022. But the battlefield gains along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line have been costly for Moscow, and the Russian economy is feeling the consequences of the war and international sanctions.

Ukraine is short of money and, despite significantly boosting its own arms manufacturing, still needs Western weaponry. It is also short-handed on the front line. Its defense minister last week reported some 200,000 troop desertions and draft-dodging by about 2 million Ukrainians.

Zelenskyy is also striving to keep the world's attention focused on Ukraine despite other conflicts.

He chided Europe for being slow to act on key decisions, spending too little on defense, failing to stop Russia’s ”shadow fleet" of oil tankers that are breaking international sanctions, and balking at using its frozen assets in Europe to finance Ukraine, among other things.

Europe, he said, “still feels more like a geography, history, a tradition, not a real political force, not a great power.”

“Some Europeans are really strong, it’s true, but many say we must stand strong, and they always want someone else to tell them how long they need to stand strong, preferably until the next election,” he said.

The Trump administration is pushing for a peace settlement, with its envoys shuttling between Kyiv and Moscow in a flurry of negotiations that some worry could force Ukraine into an unfavorable deal.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow late Thursday and sat down for more talks with Putin, the Kremlin said.

One major issue remains to be resolved in negotiations, Witkoff said at Davos, without saying what it was. Zelenskyy said the future status of land in eastern Ukraine currently occupied by Russia is unresolved but that peace proposals are “nearly ready.”

Postwar security guarantees, should a deal be reached, are agreed between the U.S. and Ukraine, although they would require each country's ratification, he said.

Zelenskyy said two days of trilateral meetings involving the U.S., Ukraine and Russia are due to begin Friday in the United Arab Emirates.

“Russians have to be ready for compromises because, you know, everybody has to be ready, not only Ukraine, and this is important for us,” he said.

Trump and Zelenskyy have had a fraught relationship, and the American president has at times also rebuked Putin.

Zelenskyy said he thanked Trump for providing U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems that can help stop Russian missiles that are repeatedly hitting Ukraine’s power grid, causing hardship for civilians denied light, heating and running water. He said he asked Trump for more of them.

After Trump cut support for Ukraine, other NATO countries began buying weapons from the U.S. to donate to Kyiv under a special financial arrangement.

Hrabchuk reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, centre, talks to the media at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks to the media at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks to the media at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on a screen as he delivers a speech at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a speech at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

CAIRO (AP) — Desperate Palestinians at a garbage dump in a Gaza neighborhood dug with their bare hands for plastic items to burn to fend off the cold and damp winter in the enclave, battered by two years of the Israel-Hamas war.

The scene in the Muwasi area of the city of Khan Younis contrasted starkly with the vision of the territory projected by world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, where they inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace that will oversee Gaza.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump claimed that “record levels” of humanitarian aid had entered Gaza since the October start of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal. His son-in law, Jared Kushner, and envoy Steve Witkoff triumphantly touted the devastated territory's development potential.

In Gaza, months into the truce, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still languish in displacement camps, sheltering in tents and war-ravaged buildings, unable to protect them from the chilly nighttime temperatures.

Despite the ceasefire, there are still recurring deadly strikes. Israeli tank shelling on Thursday killed four Palestinians east of Gaza City, according to Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of the Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

Some in Gaza expressed skepticism about Trump's Board of Peace and whether it will change their grim lives.

“This committee includes Israelis. I don’t understand, as citizens, how can we understand this situation?" Rami Ghalban, who was displaced from Khan Younis, said Thursday. “The Israelis that inflicted suffering upon us.”

But grappling with what’s ahead seemed futile for others.

“We are in a position where there are no alternatives,” said Fathi Abu Sultan. “Our situation is miserable.”

Aid flow into Gaza has significantly increased since the ceasefire, but residents say fuel and firewood are in short supply. Prices are exorbitant and searching for firewood is dangerous. Two 13-year-old boys were shot and killed by Israeli forces on Wednesday as they tried to collect firewood, hospital officials said.

United Nations partners managing displacement camps say they now are able to provide support to about 40% of the existing 970 sites across the Gaza Strip because of capacity and funding constraints, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Thursday.

They continue to distribute tents, mattresses, sleeping bags, blankets, warm clothes, cooking utensils as well as solar lights, Dujarric said.

For Sanaa Salah, who lives in a tent with her husband and six kids, starting a fire is a critical daily chore so they can cook and keep warm. Her family has barely has enough clothes to keep them warm.

She said the family cannot afford to buy firewood or gas, and that they are aware of the dangers of burning plastic but have no other choice.

“Life is very hard,” she said as her family members threw plastic and paper into a fire to keep it burning. “We cannot even have a cup of tea."

“This is our life,” she said. “We do not sleep at night from the cold.”

Firewood is too expensive, said Aziz Akel. His family has no income and they can't pay the 7 or 8 shekels (about $2.5) it would cost.

“My house is gone and my kids were wounded," he said.

His daughter, Lina Akel, said he leaves the family’s tent early each morning to look for plastic in the garbage to burn — “the basics of life.”

Dozens of Palestinians gathered Thursday to mourn three Palestinian journalists — including a frequent contributor to Agence France-Presse — killed the day before when an Israeli strike hit their vehicle, according to Gaza health officials.

The Israeli military said the strike came after it spotted suspects who were operating a drone that posed a threat to its troops.

The journalists were filming near a displacement camp in central Gaza, managed by an Egyptian government committee, said Mohammed Mansour, the committee’s spokesperson.

One of them, Abdul Raouf Shaat, a regular contributor to AFP, was not on assignment for the news agency at the time, it said. A statement from AFP demanded a full investigation.

Mourners wept over the journalists’ bodies, which were in body bags and had press vests placed on their chests.

News organizations rely largely on Palestinian journalists and residents in Gaza to show what is happening on the ground because Israel has barred international journalists from entering to cover the war, aside from rare guided tours.

More than 470 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the ceasefire began in October, according to Gaza’s health ministry. At least 77 have been killed by Israeli gunfire near a ceasefire line that splits the territory between Israeli-held areas and most of Gaza’s Palestinian population, the ministry says.

The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

While Trump tries to build support for his Board of Peace by mapping out a future for Gaza, more details about what’s ahead emerged Thursday.

Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, said the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week on the Gaza-Egypt border. Israel said in early December it would open the Gaza side of the crossing but has yet to do so.

Reopening the crossing would make it easier for Palestinians in Gaza to seek medical treatment or visit family in Egypt.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to send $1 billion to the Board of Peace for humanitarian purposes in Gaza if the U.S. unblocks the money. He met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow.

“We believe that only forming and proper functioning of the Palestinian state can lead to a final settlement of the Middle East conflict,” Putin said.

Frankel reported from Jerusalem.

Mourners pray over the bodies of the Palestinian journalists Abd Shaat and Anas Ghoneim who were killed in an Israeli strike on an Egyptian committee's vehicle, during their funeral in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian resident of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank burns trash, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Mourners carry the body of Anas Ghoneim, one of the three Palestinian journalists who were killed in an Israeli strike on an Egyptian committee's vehicle, during his funeral in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)