EU leaders to shift focus in Davos from Ukraine to Greenland after Trump's threats - Media
Kyiv • UNN
EU leaders, who were preparing to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, are now focused on the situation with Greenland. Trump is threatening new tariffs on EU countries for opposing his desire to acquire Greenland.
Three days ago, EU leaders were preparing to spend this week in Davos, convincing US President Donald Trump to promise security guarantees to post-war Ukraine, but now the situation around Greenland is coming to the fore, UNN reports with reference to FT.
Three days ago, EU leaders were preparing to spend this week in Davos, convincing Trump to promise security guarantees to post-war Ukraine. Today, they wake up wondering if they can even trust his promises.
The publication reminds that Trump on Saturday evening promised to impose additional 10% tariffs on six EU countries, as well as NATO allies Norway and Great Britain, to punish them for opposing his desire to conquer Greenland.
The uproar surrounding Trump's desire to "own" the Danish-controlled Arctic island has exploded from a bilateral dispute into the biggest threat to the NATO alliance in decades and the deepest rift in transatlantic relations since the Suez Crisis.
The article states that "EU leaders and their delegations, who are due to meet Trump and US officials at the World Economic Forum, which begins today in Davos, are tearing up their briefing notes on Ukraine and replacing them with what one senior EU diplomat called 'the carrot and the stick' – how Brussels can respond to tariffs, as well as proposals for de-escalation."
"How can you sit down at the negotiating table with this guy and discuss his security guarantees for Ukraine?" the diplomat added. "You can't trust him unless you deny reality."
EU leaders will meet at an emergency summit later this week, tentatively scheduled for Thursday after meetings with Trump in Davos.
Let's add
FT reminds that in preparation, EU ambassadors last night discussed the possibility of imposing tariffs on the US worth 93 billion euros, which had already been developed last year, or using the so-called Anti-Coercion Instrument to limit American companies' access to the EU single market.
According to officials familiar with the discussion, many participants expressed their support for the idea of introducing retaliatory measures as a negotiating leverage, but not to pull the trigger until diplomacy has exhausted itself.
A meeting of Western national security advisors in Davos today was originally convened to discuss Ukraine; it will now focus on Greenland. Today's meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels will also discuss the crisis; French and German ministers will first meet this morning in Berlin to coordinate actions. And European Council President António Costa has convened an extraordinary summit of EU leaders, scheduled for Thursday in Brussels.
According to FT, some optimists argue that Trump has made empty threats before, and that over the past year, Europe has experienced similar moments, only to find a way to bring him back.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who spoke with Trump yesterday, said he was "interested in listening" to a possible compromise.
"Hold your horses (and bazookas) until the end of Davos," said a second EU diplomat.