Trump's insistence on taking over Greenland derailed $800 billion plan for Ukraine: 'Nobody's in the mood to put on a big show right now'
Donald Trump before he left for the White House. Photo: Celal Gunes / AFP / Profimedia
European opposition to US President Donald Trump's intention to acquire Greenland and his “Council for Peace” initiative have derailed plans for an economic support package for post-war Ukraine, according to the Financial Times.
The planned announcement of the $800 billion prosperity plan, which was to be agreed between Ukraine, Europe and the US at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, has been delayed, according to six officials the financial publication spoke to.
“No one is in the mood to put on a big show around a deal with Trump at the moment,” an official told the FT, adding that disputes over Greenland and the “Peace Council” had overtaken previous focus on Ukraine at the Davos meeting.
Tensions over Greenland disrupted negotiations on the text of the prosperity plan this week, according to the FT, which added that the US did not send a representative to a key meeting on Monday night.
The “prosperity plan” has not been postponed indefinitely and could be signed at a later date, the financial publication
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he would go to Davos only if documents on security guarantees with the United States and the prosperity plan were ready to be signed there.
Trump is preparing to use the Davos meeting for his own agenda
Donald Trump is due to arrive in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday and is likely to use the World Economic Forum to step up his efforts to buy Greenland, despite European protests, in what has become the worst deterioration in transatlantic relations in decades.
Trump, who on Tuesday marked the end of his first year back in the White House, is expected to overshadow the annual gathering that global elites use to discuss economic trends each year in the Alpine resort of Davos.
Trump said at a news conference on Tuesday that he would have meetings in Davos on the Danish territory of Greenland and that he was optimistic that an agreement would eventually be reached.
“I think we will find a solution that will satisfy both NATO and us. But we need this territory for security reasons. We need it for national security,” he said.
Asked how far he was willing to go to acquire Greenland, Trump offered a cryptic answer. “You will find out,” he said.
In the days leading up to his visit to Davos, Trump repeatedly insisted that “we need Greenland” as an Arctic bulwark against Russia and China and threatened a trade war with Europeans who oppose him.
Emboldened by the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his takeover of the country's oil, Trump has spoken of taking action against Cuba and Colombia, as well as Iran. He did not rule out using the US military to conquer Greenland, where there is a US military base.
