Trump At Davos 2026 Highlights: Russia-Ukraine 'war has to end', says POTUS after meeting Zelensky

US President Donald Trump left Switzerland on Thursday, according to AFP, following a high-profile appearance at the Davos economic forum marked by tensions over Greenland.

Trump departed from Zurich airport on Air Force One, a day after his arrival had been delayed due to an electrical fault on his original plane, which forced him to switch aircraft in Washington.

Tesla Inc. is likely to offer its Optimus robots to consumers by the end of next year, CEO Elon Musk said, noting that the company’s future success will increasingly rely on humanoid machines, according to Bloomberg.

Some of the robots are already performing simple tasks in Tesla’s factory, Musk said Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and he predicted Optimus would be “doing more complex tasks” by the end of 2026.

Sales to the public will begin once Tesla is “confident that it’s very high reliability, very high safety, and the range of functionality is also very high,” Musk added.

Elon Musk said on Thursday that he anticipates Tesla to obtain European approval for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) advanced driver-assistance system by next month, according to Reuters.

This approval would represent an important regulatory milestone for Tesla, potentially enabling broader deployment of its autonomous technology.

"We hope to get Supervised Full Self-Driving approval in Europe, hopefully next month, and then maybe a similar timing, timing for China," Musk said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, during a pointed address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, highlighted that Europe was failing to take decisive steps on its own defence and security, cautioning that the continent remained caught in a cycle of endless discussions without tangible results, as per ANI.

Comparing the situation to the film Groundhog Day, Zelensky remarked that Europe’s approach resembled the same events repeating over and over. "No one would want to live like that, repeating the same thing for weeks and months and of course, four years," Zelensky said. He added, "That's exactly how we live now. And it's our life.

The United Arab Emirates will host “trilateral” discussions on the Ukraine war later this week involving Ukrainian, US, and Russian officials, President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested on Thursday, according to AFP.

Zelensky did not provide details on how the talks will be structured or whether Ukrainian and Russian representatives will hold direct negotiations. His office also did not respond to requests seeking clarification.

"It will be the first trilateral meeting in the Emirates. It will be tomorrow and the day after tomorrow," Zelensky said after his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, adding: "Russians have to be ready for compromises."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that he is unhappy with what he called a lack of momentum in setting up a special tribunal on Russian aggression at the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguing that justice is being delayed, as per ANI.

He made the comments while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, shortly after a closed-door meeting with US President Donald Trump.

"Too often in Europe something else is more urgent than justice," Zelenskyy said, highlighting what he sees as limited progress on the proposed mechanism.

"There is still no real progress on establishing a special tribunal for Russian aggression against Ukraine, against the Ukrainian people," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump in Davos about security guarantees and a roadmap for post-war recovery, according to Reuters.

He added that they also discussed the order of steps needed to move current efforts to end the war into “real negotiations".

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said US President Donald Trump is putting strong pressure on Russia over Ukraine and expressed hope that it will continue, according to Reuters.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said he expects economic growth to pick up this year as he promoted his policy agenda for Southeast Asia’s largest economy to business leaders in Davos, as per Bloomberg.

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Thursday, the leader of the world’s fourth-most populous country pointed to the International Monetary Fund’s recent description of Indonesia as “a global bright spot".

“Indonesia’s economy grew by more than 5% every year over the last decade,” Prabowo told attendees. “I am confident that this year our growth will be higher.”

In recent years, Elon Musk has emerged as one of the World Economic Forum’s most vocal critics, frequently describing the annual Davos meeting as elitist, unaccountable, and out of touch with everyday people, as per Reuters.

Musk has often ridiculed Davos on his social media platform X, calling it "boring" and asserting that the WEF is “an unelected world government that the people never asked for and don't want”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine requires security guarantees from the United States to deter another Russian invasion, not only from France and the United Kingdom, according to AFP.

"The UK and France are ready to actually commit their forces on the ground... But the backstop of President Trump is needed. And again, no security guarantees work without the US," Zelensky said during his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

India was one of the countries absent on Thursday from the ceremony in Davos where US President Donald Trump introduced his “Board of Peace", aimed at promoting lasting peace in Gaza and potentially addressing other global conflicts, as per PTI.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the many world leaders invited by the US president to join the board, which was launched under the second phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Billionaire Elon Musk is going to take part in the World Economic Forum in Davos for the first time, ending years of public disputes with the organisers of the annual gathering of global elites.

Musk was confirmed as a last-minute addition to a Thursday afternoon session, where he will speak with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, as per Bloomberg.

The appearance of Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, represents a significant change in his relationship with the event that annually attracts world leaders, billionaires, and international media to the Swiss Alps each January.

Palestine’s Ambassador to India, Abdullah Abu Shawesh, called US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” a major threat to the United Nations and the current multilateral system, according to ANI.

His comments followed Trump’s signing of the Board of Peace charter on Thursday in Davos, alongside other founding members, officially launching the initiative during the World Economic Forum. Trump has promoted the body as a forum intended to resolve international conflict

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the specifics of a US agreement regarding Greenland are still being finalised, a day after he withdrew a tariff threat and ruled out using force to acquire the Danish territory.

In an interview with Fox Business Network from Davos, Trump also noted the effect his Greenland initiative had on global markets, emphasising that he does not plan to purchase the territory.

"It's really being negotiated now, the details of it. But essentially it's total access. It's - there's no end, there's no time limit," Trump said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

"I noticed the stock market went up very substantially after we announced it," he added on FBN's Mornings with Maria programme.

United States President Donald Trump offered hope for a diplomatic resolution on Greenland in his Wednesday speech at Davos, Polish President Karol Nawrocki said on Thursday, as per Reuters.

"Yesterday's words by President Donald Trump give hope that... the matter will be resolved diplomatically in discussions between the Prime Minister of Denmark, the President of the United States and, of course, in the interest of the people of Greenland themselves and the Greenlandic authorities," he told reporters in Davos.

“I met Ukrainian President Zelensky here, will soon meet Putin; war must end,” US President Donald Trump said before departing Davos, according to PTI.

NATO’s chief Mark Rutte said that an agreement regarding Greenland was reached without addressing the territory’s sovereignty with President Donald Trump, focusing instead on wider Arctic security concerns.

The talks emphasised regional security in a “practical sense” and aimed at keeping Russia and China from gaining access to the semi-autonomous Danish territory, Secretary General Mark Rutte told Bloomberg in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

US President Donald Trump described his Thursday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Davos as “very good”, adding that his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin is that the war in Ukraine must end, according to Reuters.

Trump spoke briefly to reporters after the roughly one-hour meeting with Zelensky, according to the White House.

Trump emphasised earlier that resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to be a key focus, according to AP.

“We’re working to end the horrible killing in Ukraine,” he said during the launch of his Board of Peace.

Trump said 'war has to end' after meeting Ukrainian leader Zelensky at Davos, according to AFP.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Thursday that Moscow is prepared to release USD 1 billion from its frozen assets to help rebuild Gaza under the Board of Peace Council launched by US President Donald Trump, as per PTI.

Meeting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Kremlin, Putin added that a fully sovereign and functional Palestinian state is the only path to a lasting resolution in West Asia.

His comments came as leaders and senior officials from 19 countries joined Trump for the signing ceremony of the Board of Peace Charter in Davos, Switzerland.

Trump and Zelensky held a meeting lasting roughly one hour, White House said.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the specifics of a US agreement regarding Greenland are still being finalised, a day after he withdrew a tariff threat and ruled out using force to acquire the Danish territory.

"It's really being negotiated now, the details of it. But essentially it's total access. It's - there's no end, there's no time limit," Trump told Fox Business Network during an interview from Davos, where he is attending the World Economic Forum.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump's meeting began at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, the Ukrainian presidency told reporters.

"The meeting has begun," Zelensky's spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov confirmed, according to AFP.

President Donald Trump on Thursday launched his Board of Peace, an initiative meant to help oversee efforts to keep a ceasefire in place in Israel’s war with Hamas. Trump claimed that “everyone wants to be a part” of the group, which he suggested could one day rival the United Nations, even as many key US allies have chosen not to join, according to AP.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Trump attempted to revive attention around a plan for shaping Gaza’s future after the war. The effort has been largely eclipsed in recent days, first by his comments threatening to seize Greenland, and then by his sudden pullback from that stance.

“This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” he said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.”