Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his disappointment with Europe during a press conference on January 23, 2026, following his participation in the World Economic Forum in Davos.
He emphasized that although Europe has made progress in supporting Ukraine, it has failed to take decisive steps to stop Russia’s war efforts.
Zelensky acknowledged that European support has been significant, including financial and military assistance. “Let’s be honest: Europe is doing a lot,” he said, adding that around $90 billion in aid has been helpful, along with joint weapons production projects.
However, he voiced frustration over the gap between words and concrete actions, recalling his speech at Davos last year: “Europe must know how to defend itself.” “A year has passed — and nothing has changed,” the Ukrainian president added.
Zelensky criticized the weak enforcement of sanctions, noting that Russian oil tankers continue to move across Europe despite restrictions. “If a tanker carrying Russian oil is stopped, it should not be allowed to continue,” he said, pointing out that France has intervened in only a few such cases recently.
He also warned that Russia continues to receive foreign components for missiles and drones from Europe, the United States, Taiwan, and other countries, despite long discussions on cutting supply chains. “These components are then used to kill us and attack us. They should not be supplied, yet they still arrive. How is it possible to talk about this for years?” Zelensky asked.
The Ukrainian president described the Coalition of the Willing as a positive but insufficient step, comparing it to “a baby’s first step — when what we need are adult strides forward.”
He called for a unified European security and defense policy to move from political commitments to strong collective defensive measures. These remarks follow his keynote address in Davos on January 22, where he criticized Europe as “lost” and stuck in a “Groundhog Day” cycle of repeating the same mistakes, urging bolder action against Russia’s shadow tanker fleet and the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
