DAVOS, Switzerland — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was meeting with President Donald Trump in Switzerland on Thursday to try to advance U.S.-mediated talks aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, an effort Washington has pursued for nearly a year with little tangible progress.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a spokesperson for Zelenskyy said. They were expected to zero in on the main sticking points that have stalled a peace deal so far, namely control over territory and security guarantees for Ukraine after the war.

Trump and Zelenskyy were also likely to discuss Ukraine’s postwar economic recovery, an ambitious, multibillion-dollar plan whose framework Ukrainian officials said could be agreed upon in Davos.

Zelenskyy’s trip to Davos followed days of uncertainty over whether he would attend the annual gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort. Earlier this week, he had suggested he would remain in Ukraine to respond to a Russian campaign of attacks against energy infrastructure that has plunged much of the country into cold and darkness. Ukrainian officials in Davos had said there was little point in his coming unless it helped advance peace talks.

Then, on Wednesday, Trump told attendees in Davos that he would meet with Zelenskyy the following day. The Ukrainian president’s office initially did not comment, but by Thursday morning, it had confirmed the meeting, which was scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. Eastern).

Peace May Be in Reach

Zelenskyy’s trip suggests that some progress in peace talks may be within reach. His negotiators have been meeting with their U.S. counterparts — Steve Witkoff, Trump’s peace envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law — in Davos this week.

“There is movement, and it’s real,” said Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff and one of the Ukrainian negotiators, said Monday. “We are really making progress.”

Later Thursday, Witkoff and Kushner were expected to hold talks in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Whether this new round of negotiations will yield a breakthrough remains unclear. Moscow has held firm to demands that Ukraine cede parts of the eastern Donbas region it still controls as a condition to ending the fighting — a red line for Ukraine. Russia has also rejected robust security guarantees for Ukraine that would include the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine as a deterrent against any future Russian aggression.

One area where progress could be reached in Davos, however, is Ukraine’s postwar economic recovery. Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators have been working on a plan estimated at $800 billion, roughly four times the size of Ukraine’s economy, to rebuild and modernize the country.

Ukrainian officials have been tight-lipped about what the plan entails. Zelenskyy said last month that the proposal envisions multiple investment funds targeting sectors such as technology and energy.

Three Ukrainian officials in Davos, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks, said the plan remains largely conceptual and high-level and that any agreement reached Thursday would resemble more a letter of intent or memorandum of understanding than a finalized deal.

European nations have also been included in the talks on the recovery plan but some officials have expressed concern that the Trump administration was trying to steer it toward American business interests. Their concern has been heightened by the involvement of the U.S. firm BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, in shaping the plan.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Constant Méheut/Doug Mills
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