The World Economic Forum in Davos in the Context of Ukraine’s Interests

An important international event in January this year was the World Economic Forum in Davos, which is the most authoritative platform for discussing the main directions of global economic development and ways to resolve its problems. The events held on the sidelines of the Forum directly addressed how to stop the Russian-Ukrainian war, as well as Ukraine’s key problems. These problems include Donald Trump’s changes to the international security system and his claims to Greenland. The US President has managed to create the conditions for achieving his goals on the first issue. As for the second, he was forced to agree to compromises with Europe. Despite new so-called contradictions and complexities in the world, Ukraine remains the focus of the international community. Therefore, it will not be left alone with Russia, as Ukraine’s Western partners will continue to assist it.

It is very important for Ukraine to stop the war as soon as possible, while ensuring that Ukrainie’s interests are taken into account. The World Economic Forum summit held in Davos on January 19-23 this year became an important international platform in this regard. The Forum was established in 1971, and its main purpose is to identify both the main directions of global economic development and ways to resolve its potential problems. At the same time, political and security issues are increasingly being raised at the Forum. In addition, leaders of the world’s leading countries and international organizations participating in the summits have the opportunity to conduct negotiations that are beneficial to them. This was the case at this year’s WEF summit, which was attended by about 2,500 representatives of global political, economic, and expert circles. In particular, about 400 leaders of leading countries and international organizations were present, including US President Donald Trump, Presidents and Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, and Italy, and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Russia refused to participate in the summit at the level of its top leadership, which can be seen as a result of its desire to avoid public accountability for its actions.

Given the specific nature of the WEF, the agenda for such meetings was determined by the current situation in the world, its development, and the challenges facing the global community that require an appropriate response at the global level.

The most important events of such a forum are meetings and negotiations between:

• the Presidents of Ukraine and the USA;
• American, Ukrainian, and Russian representatives in separate bilateral formats on the conditions for ending the Russian-Ukrainian war;
• American and European delegations on resolving issues in relations between America and Europe.

Thanks to the analysis of the positions of the USA, the EU, NATO, and the most influential European countries, as demonstrated at the Forum by their leaders and representatives, as well as the results of the above-mentioned events, at least in their open form, it is possible to assess the most significant aspects of the development of the situation in the world for Ukraine.

Thus, the meetings and negotiations on the terms of Russia’s cessation of the war against Ukraine have not only achieved certain progress, but have also taken them to a new level. First of all, this concerns the agreement on most of the peace plan between the USA, Ukraine, and Europe, as well as the start of a trilateral dialogue involving American, Ukrainian, and Russian representatives. Such a dialogue is technical in nature, but it allows for more efficient discussion of the most important issues that require effective solutions.

The main problem is Russia’s encroachment on the Donbas territories controlled by Ukraine. According to repeated statements by President of the RF Putin, Moscow will not end the war until the Ukrainian Armed Forces leave these territories. In this way, Putin hopes to demonstrate at least some success in the war he has unleashed against Ukraine to the Russian population. This is fundamentally important to him in terms of his own ambitions and the stability of his power. But here, too, there is an opportunity to reach a compromise, in particular, in the form of creating a free economic zone in those territories.

Undoubtedly, Russia will try to drag out the negotiations, including in a trilateral format, and impose its peace terms on Ukraine. This is especially true given that Putin has not changed his goals with regard to Ukraine, namely to destroy it as an independent state. At this, having achieved no success on the front lines, Russia is focusing its efforts on undermining the morale of the Ukrainian population in order to force it to capitulate by destroying Ukraine’s energy system. Attacks on this system were intensified during the negotiations in Davos and at the beginning of the trilateral dialogue in Abu Dhabi, which confirmed Moscow’s intentions.

However, despite the lack of light and heat, Ukrainians are not bowing down to Russia. And Russia has already realized the need to at least suspend hostilities due to the onset of an economic crisis. In January 2026, it even accelerated. Therefore, given these circumstances, it can be predicted that this year, at the very least, a ceasefire will be declared. In other words, peace is entirely possible. This is especially true considering that the peace talks that have been ongoing since spring 2025 are not entirely hopeless. Russia has been forced to make concessions in its demands and now limits them to the Donbas, although it previously demanded the entire territory of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

At the same time, the USA, EU, and NATO have demonstrated their willingness to continue supporting Ukraine, as confirmed by the statements of their representatives at bilateral talks. In this regard, a new aspect, so to speak, was US President Donald Trump’s proposal to create a free trade zone between America and Ukraine. In his view, this will be a powerful impetus for the development of Ukraine’s economy. At the same time, the USA is refraining from providing direct financial assistance to Ukraine and is referring this issue to Europe.

Discussions also continued on providing Ukraine with specific security guarantees for the post-war period. The most effective measure for Ukraine could be the implementation of plans to deploy an international military mission on our territory to prevent Russia’s further aggression. The United Kingdom, France, Germany, and a number of other countries have confirmed their consent to participate in the mission.

However, according to most estimates, the mission will not be effective without the participation of the USA, as European countries alone are not capable of stopping Russia if it attacks Ukraine again. The USA is offering Ukraine something similar to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. But it is still unclear how it would work. The USA refuses to send its troops to Ukraine and agrees only to provide air support to the mission.

The meetings in Davos also discussed plans for US and European participation in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. It was planned to conclude a relevant agreement between the USA, Europe, and Ukraine. It has been largely agreed upon, but its signing has been postponed.

A powerful factor influencing the situation in the world and around Ukraine, which is related to the WEF summit, was the USA’s switching to practical alignment of the international security system with its own interests. Thus, at the World Economic Forum, Donald Trump announced his initiative to establish a so-called Peace Council (PC). According to the US President’s proposal, the PC will initially focus on ending the armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and post-war management, and then on preventing and resolving conflicts in other regions of the world.

At least 50 countries have been invited to participate in the Peace Council. The initial contribution for permanent membership is set at one billion dollars. According to some experts, through this initiative, D. Trump is trying to create an alternative to the UN that would be subordinate to both the US and himself personally.

As part of these plans, D. Trump is trying to attract leading states and countries dependent on the USA to the Peace Council, which should also strengthen his influence over them. First and foremost, he is interested in the members of the UN Security Council, which he hopes will increase the authority of the Peace Council. At the same time, the United Kingdom and France, along with Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, have refused to participate in such a council because they do not want the UN to be completely destroyed.

As for Russia, despite its aggressive course and war against Ukraine, Donald Trump also invited it to join the Peace Council. Russia is important to him in its capacity as a member of the UN Security Council. Besides, he may seek to have additional leverage to manipulate it in his interests. Russia has agreed to participate in the Peace Council, which will give it the opportunity to strengthen its position in the world and expand the scope of dialogue with the USA on issues other than Ukraine. Russia is already trying to use the Peace Council to unfreeze its assets in the USA and the EU. In particular, Putin has proposed that they use these funds to rebuild the Gaza Strip and “war-torn territories of Ukraine”. At this, within the framework of the Peace Council, Russia will be able to rely on its allies, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which have also been invited to join the PC.

Ukraine has received an invitation to join the Peace Council, but so far it has refrained from agreeing to participate in its work. This is quite understandable, as Ukraine cannot cooperate with the aggressor in the same organization. However, participation in the Peace Council would give Ukraine additional opportunities to demonstrate to the world the true nature of Moscow’s policies.

About 20 countries have already signed the Peace Council’s charter. However, the Council is unlikely to become an effective international organization due to the refusal of leading Western countries to join it and disagreements among its members.

On the sidelines of the WEF summit, the USA and Europe demonstrated their ability to reach compromises on complex issues in their relations. In this case, we are referring to Donald Trump’s claims to Greenland, which threatened to undermine the unity of the USA and Europe, lead to the collapse of NATO, and even cause armed conflict between them.

Speaking at the forum, D. Trump confirmed these claims, which he again explained by citing threats to Greenland from Russia and China. According to him, this requires the USA to establish a protectorate over the island, since Denmark and Europe are unable to protect it on their own. At the same time, he rejected the possibility of enforcing his claims on Greenland by force and agreed to negotiate on the issue. The issue was previously discussed during a meeting between representatives of the USA, the EU, and Denmark in Davos. The parties refused to exert mutual economic pressure in resolving the Greenland issue and began to look for ways to reconcile their interests.

According to experts, the main compromises may include allowing the USA to increase its military presence in Greenland beyond the parameters set out in the 1951 treaty (in particular, the deployment of active missile defense systems, air force and naval bases). In addition, the USA may have expanded access to Greenland’s natural resources, including the transfer of ownership of certain territories with mineral deposits to the USA.

It is highly likely that the issues surrounding Greenland will soon be resolved, as D. Trump’s claims to it are artificial in nature and a result of his own ambitions. The USA will be able to achieve its desired outcome regarding Greenland without straining relations with Europe and is already doing so in practice. Therefore, the US Congress is considering a draft resolution prohibiting the use of military force against America’s NATO allies and the exertion of economic pressure on them in the process of resolving contentious issues. In principle, D. Trump has already begun to back down and has softened his demands on Greenland. This has dashed Russia’s hopes for critical contradictions between the USA and Europe and the collapse of NATO, which would have allowed it to dominate Eurasia. However, this did not happen. In general, the USA and Europe have maintained unity, including in their support for Ukraine. Nevertheless, Russia, in an attempt to justify its annexation of Crimea, continues to use D. Trump’s claims to Greenland.

Against this background, the most resonant speeches at the WEF summit were those of US President D. Trump and President of Ukraine V. Zelenskyy. Trump effectively confirmed his intentions to achieve the USA’s dominance in the world. At the same time, he expressed his commitment to NATO, but criticized it for its inability to protect Europe on its own, without US assistance. This was confirmed to some extent by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called on Europe to take more decisive action to protect itself from Russia, including the creation of a separate European army.

The main aspects of the WEF summit agenda concerning the global economy, into which Ukraine is integrated, are also noteworthy. Therefore, economic problems also affect our country.

According to the World Economic Forum report, as of today, the global situation s determined by the following factors:

• intensification of confrontation and competition between the world’s leading powers, which undermines global and regional stability. The result is the destruction of the world system, which was based on a certain balance between the leading centers of power, which generally adhered to the norms of international law and took each other’s interests into account;
• intensification of negative trends in the global economy, associated with increased political uncertainty and heightened trade tensions. According to forecasts by global expert institutions, global growth will be only 3.1% in 2026, while trade, as its main driving force, will increase by only 0.9%.
• widespread adoption of new technologies, primarily artificial intelligence, which is completely transforming scientific, technical, manufacturing, military, and other fields and significantly improving their efficiency. According to forecasts, by 2030, such technologies will add more than $15 trillion to global GDP. At the same time, a number of new problems will arise that will need to be addressed;
• deepening imbalances in the global labor market as a result of the technological changes mentioned above. In particular, this will concern a surplus of personnel in some professions and a shortage in others, primarily in high-tech industries;
• acceleration of global climate change, which has already affected more than 75% of the land. These changes are mostly negative in nature and complicate people’s lives, creating obstacles to the functioning of the global economic system.

During the discussion of the above-mentioned issues, a number of recommendations were made to restore the sustainable development of the global economy and resolve the existing problems. The main ones were identified as follows:

• improving the quality of geopolitical and geo-economic forecasting at the level of leading international institutions, which will help large businesses to take changes in the world more actively into account in their activities;
• ensuring that the economies of the world’s leading countries are not only able to withstand short-term shocks, but also use innovation to increase long-term productivity. At this, economic development should ensure the prosperity of all humanity, not just enrich individual corporations;
• Increasing investment in retraining and upskilling of workers, which will be crucial for achieving workforce resilience. Special  attention should be paid to creating new jobs in developing countries, where a labor surplus of around 800 million people is expected over the next ten years, in particular through the use of artificial intelligence;
• creating conditions for sustainable investment in advanced technologies, primarily artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum technology, space, and semiconductors; scaling up new technologies and improving access to innovation, especially in emerging markets;
• accelerating the transition to environmentally friendly production while striking a balance between environmental protection and economic growth.

The World Economic Forum was assigned a significant role in the implementation of these plans. In this regard, it was named an effective mechanism for bringing together government agencies, politicians, businesses, and experts to achieve greater results. At the same time, according to some political scientists and experts, the WEF cannot be considered a breakthrough in resolving the world’s current problems, as it failed to offer any truly new ideas. Most of what was discussed there,  is already known and, to one degree or another, is already being implemented in practice.

Thus, the World Economic Forum summit in Davos has become a traditional platform for addressing global economic issues. However, it did not produce any groundbreaking proposals or new ideas.

More important were the events that took place on the sidelines of the Forum and included meetings and negotiations between the Presidents of Ukraine and the USA; American, Ukrainian, and Russian representatives on the conditions for ending the war; and American and European delegations – on resolving issues in relations between America and Europe.

The main result for Ukraine was the  progress in the peace talks, which reached a new level of trilateral format with the participation of representatives of the USA, Ukraine, and Russia. However, Russia is again dragging out the negotiation process, trying to force Ukraine to capitulate with active strikes on the Ukrainian energy sector.

At the same time, D. Trump used the WEF to try to rebuild the global collective security system in favor of the USA. This is precisely the goal of his initiative to create a Peace Council. According to some estimates, the US President plans to make it an alternative to the UN.

Against this background, the Forum became a platform for the USA and Europe to reach agreement on a compromise solution to the disputes surrounding Greenland, which arose as a result of Donald Trump’s renewed claims to the island. This eliminated the threat of confrontation between America and Europe and the collapse of NATO.

Despite the relevance and urgency of Greenland and other issues discussed during the WEF summit, they did not distract the world community’s attention from Ukraine and Russia’s war against it, which helps to maintain international support for our state.

Oleh Makhno,
Institute for Global Politics