DAVOS, Switzerland — Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck an unlikely note of agreement at Davos: Europe’s leaders must do better.

A day after the U.S. president bemoaned what he described as a continent ruined by mass migration, the Ukrainian leader spent most of his speech at the World Economic Forum rebuking European leaders for not doing enough to help his country fend off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion — nor enough for their own defense. 

The focus on Europe’s shortcomings, rather than on diplomatic gains, served as a telling indicator of the state of negotiations: Despite renewed U.S. engagement, there has been little progress from talks meant to bring the war to an end.

Zelenskyy had a long list of complaints, starting with the European Union’s decision not to use frozen Russian assets in Europe to help fund Ukraine. 

“Putin managed to stop Europe, unfortunately,” he said. “What’s missing? Time? Or political will? Too often in Europe, something is more urgent.”

“Europe loves to discuss the future but avoids taking action today,” he concluded. 

In a feisty speech, he also complained about the advice European leaders have given him when it comes to talking with Washington. “We are told not to bring up Tomahawk missiles,” he said, referring to the long-range weapons that would enable Kyiv to strike deep within Russian territory. The same, he said, goes with the German-made, long-range Taurus missiles.

He also railed against the difficulty the EU often faces in making decisions. “Too often, European leaders turn against each other … instead of standing together to stop Russia,” he said. “Europe needs to learn how to defend itself.”

He was careful to name some leaders for thanks, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, but overall, there was a note of scorn in his words. 

Zelenskyy’s speech jolted some in the audience, many of whom had come expecting to hear about the progress of U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, or a readout of his meeting earlier in the day with Trump. The Ukrainian president mentioned those only in passing.

On the peace talks, Zelenskyy was brief: “Our teams are working every day. It is not simple. The documents to end the war are nearly ready.” On his hourlong sit-down with the U.S. president, he told reporters the “meeting was good thanks to the president, and thanks that he found time.” 

The Ukrainian president has upbraided European leaders before — last year at Davos and notably at the Munich Security Summit, where, “he sounded like the leader of the free world,” according to former U.S. diplomat Michael McFaul. 

But his tone seemed sharper this time, especially when he scorned them for dispatching “40 soldiers to Greenland, what is that for? What message does it send? What’s the message to Putin? Or to China? And even more importantly, what message does it send to Denmark?”

“30 or 40 soldiers will not protect anything,” he added. 

The meeting between the two leaders had been in doubt right up until the morning. Ahead of the gathering, the Ukrainians struggled to get a slot for Zelenskyy on the U.S. president’s schedule, according to a senior Ukrainian official and a Republican foreign policy expert, who spoke to POLITICO on the condition of anonymity. 

“Zelenskyy is always keen to meet with Trump,” the foreign policy expert said. “He thinks the benefits outweigh the costs, and that if he isn’t engaging with him, others are.” 

But with the Ukrainian capital and other cities under Russian air assault, Zelenskyy also became reluctant. He said on Tuesday that he’d likely stay in Kyiv, partly because he didn’t feel “partners were ready” and there would be little chance of advancing the negotiations.

Things turned around after Trump’s speech on Tuesday, when the U.S. president seemed to be under the impression that Zelenskyy was in the audience, making several references to meeting the leader later that day. The Ukrainian president flew to Switzerland the next day.

On the U.S. side, officials have been upbeat about the prospects of finalizing a peace deal. “We’re reasonably close,” Trump said during his keynote speech at the WEF, “I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. If they don’t, they’re stupid.”

Ahead of the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, the U.S. president’s special envoy to Ukraine Steve Witkoff told a breakfast session in Davos that Trump wants a tariff-free zone set up in the east of the country as part of a prosperity deal for the country. 

As a result, a post-war Ukraine could gain tariff-free access to the U.S. market, he said, and “I think that would be game-changing.” 

“I actually am optimistic,” he added.

There’s little indication, however, that much progress has been made on the key sticking points in striking a deal, including on Moscow’s demands for Kyiv to cede parts of the eastern Donbas region, which Kyiv has refused to consider.

The Kremlin also has objected to security guarantees that would include deployments of Western troops in Ukraine, and which Zelenskyy has demanded to deter a repeat Russian invasion, and also to help market a deal to skeptical Ukrainians. 

The Ukrainian leader has raised objections to a proposed three-way control split of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine.

Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are heading to Moscow overnight to meet Putin, according to the White House. Zelenskyy told reporters his team will meet Witkoff and Kushner’s team on Friday and Saturday in the United Arab Emirates.

Afterward, they will have a “trilateral meeting” with Russian negotiators, he said. He added that Moscow must be ready for compromises. “Everyone has to be ready, not only Ukraine,” he said. “It’s better than not having any type of dialogue.”

“God bless, the war will stop,” he said. “I hope so.”