Dispute with Trump over Greenland derails deal on post-war Ukraine support, but plan won't be shelved forever - FT
Kyiv • UNN
European opposition to Trump's attempts to acquire Greenland and his "Peace Council" initiative has derailed plans for economic support for Ukraine. The planned $800 billion package has been postponed due to disagreements between European capitals and Washington.
European opposition to US President Donald Trump's attempts to acquire Greenland and his proposed "Peace Council" initiative has derailed plans for a post-war economic support package for Ukraine, raising fears that "a widening transatlantic rift could undermine Western unity around Kyiv," the Financial Times reports, writes UNN.
Details
According to six officials, a planned announcement of an $800 billion "prosperity plan" that was to be agreed upon between Ukraine, Europe, and the US at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week has been postponed "due to deep divisions between European capitals and Washington over Greenland and Trump's proposed council to oversee Gaza and other global conflicts."
"There is no signing yet," one official said. Another said that European capitals cannot simply ignore the US president's actions regarding Greenland while trying to make progress on other Trump-related issues, such as Ukraine.
"No one is in the mood to put on a grand spectacle around a deal with Trump right now," a third official said, adding that the dispute over Greenland and the Peace Council "overshadowed" the previously planned focus on Ukraine at the Alpine meeting.
Trump threatened to impose tariffs on eight European NATO allies in response to their decision to send troops to the Danish Arctic island of Greenland for military exercises, sparking what European officials call the most serious transatlantic crisis in decades. He also rattled European capitals by inviting them to join a proposed Peace Council, "which many in Europe believe is intended to sideline the UN as a forum for mediating global conflicts."
Most EU states rejected the invitation, and the decision to invite Kremlin head Vladimir Putin to the council deepened existing concerns about the proposal, according to sources familiar with the decision.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not participate due to concerns about the council's mandate, while the German government stated that a "prerequisite" for its participation was that the body be "compatible with existing international legal frameworks."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters on Tuesday that it was "very difficult for me to imagine" participating in any organization with Putin. "I am concerned about any loss of focus during a full-scale war," he added when asked about the shift in focus in Davos. "I do not consider [Greenland and Ukraine] interchangeable [topics]."
The Prosperity Plan – the economic aspect of a broader peace proposal being discussed by the US, Ukraine, and European capitals to end Russia's nearly four-year invasion – aims to provide Ukraine with long-term support for reconstruction and recovery after any ceasefire, the publication notes.
"Tensions between the US and European capitals over Greenland derailed negotiations on the document between senior national security officials this week," three people familiar with the discussions said. The US did not send a representative to the talks on Monday evening, they added.
"The mood has changed," said one senior EU diplomat, referring to the crisis over Greenland, which prompted the bloc to promise retaliation if Trump follows through on his threat. "He crossed a line, and we cannot pretend that it's business as usual."
The "Prosperity Plan" will not be postponed indefinitely, the six officials said, and it may still be signed later.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said the plan was "very important." However, he decided not to go to Davos as Kyiv was hit by a massive Russian air attack. According to two people close to the President, the Ukrainian leader also decided not to travel to Switzerland until there was a guarantee of a meaningful meeting with Trump where the prosperity plan would be signed.
"We are in the final stages of completing these documents. If the documents are ready, we will have a meeting, and there will be a trip [to Davos]," Zelenskyy told reporters.