{"text":[[{"start":14.94,"text":"Kyiv’s G7 allies will meet Donald Trump at Davos to seek his personal backing on security guarantees for a post-ceasefire Ukraine drawn up by his administration."}],[{"start":26.83,"text":"Leaders of Italy, Germany, France, Canada and the UK, plus the president of the European Commission, plan to attend a proposed leaders’ meeting with Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the World Economic Forum next week, four officials briefed on the plans told the FT."}],[{"start":47.519999999999996,"text":"Officials are negotiating the details of the meeting, which is set to take place on Wednesday next week and could feature other leaders from the so-called coalition of the willing — states supporting Ukraine. National security advisers from the coalition were also planning to hold a separate meeting, the officials said."}],[{"start":68.97,"text":"The Davos leaders’ meeting will seek Trump’s stamp of approval on agreements drawn up with his Ukraine negotiators and the US’s European defence commander in Paris last week, seen as critical to ensuring Russia does not restart the war after any ceasefire."}],[{"start":84.96,"text":"But European capitals are nervous about the scale of the US president’s personal commitment to supporting Ukraine after a possible peace agreement with Russia, following a number of incidents over the past year in which he has made strongly pro-Russian statements regarding the conflict."}],[{"start":103.13999999999999,"text":"Trump’s top Russia negotiator Steve Witkoff said after the Paris meeting that they were “largely finished with security protocols”, adding they were “as strong as anyone has ever seen”."}],[{"start":115.38999999999999,"text":"“President [Trump] does not back down from his commitments,” he added after the meeting. Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law and fellow Russia negotiator Jared Kushner and secretary of state Marco Rubio will be part of the US delegation to the WEF."}],[{"start":131.42999999999998,"text":"“Without the US, none of this happens,” said one European official involved in the negotiations, referring in particular to pledges from Britain and France to deploy troops to a post-ceasefire Ukraine. “It is still unclear what Trump really feels.”"}],[{"start":148.57,"text":"Six leaders plus the Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen would mark a record level of G7 attendance for the Davos event. Trump’s presence has thrust geopolitics and the US’s critical role in European security to prominence at a gathering that was previously set to have more of a focus on AI, emerging technologies and other business themes."}],[{"start":172.10999999999999,"text":"Sir Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, had not intended to travel to Davos but his allies said that if Trump was organising a meeting on Ukraine he would reconsider."}],[{"start":183.66,"text":"The US-Ukraine-Europe negotiations on security guarantees for post-conflict Ukraine are part of wider US-led peace talks aimed at ending the almost four-year-long Russian invasion of the country."}],[{"start":197.09,"text":"The formal negotiations on security guarantees have not yet involved trilateral discussions with Russia. It is not clear how much, if any, of the proposals being drawn up by Ukraine and its western allies would be accepted by Moscow."}],[{"start":214.62,"text":"“It is very good that the Americans are involved, in specifically the verification and the monitoring [of a ceasefire], but also with a backstop,” von der Leyen told reporters on Sunday of the negotiations."}],[{"start":228.05,"text":"Ukraine and the US were expected to sign an economic agreement worth $800bn aimed at accelerating Ukraine’s postwar recovery, according to a person briefed on the plan. Presidents Zelenskyy and Trump plan to finalise the deal during the summit, the person said."}],[{"start":247.09,"text":"Zelenskyy said in his Monday evening address that his team was coordinating with Trump’s envoys on the meeting schedule in Davos. “Our documents are, in many respects, already prepared for signing.’’"}],[{"start":260.67,"text":"The Ukrainian leader laid out a plan “for economic recovery, restoring jobs and bringing life back to Ukraine” in a meeting with reporters in late December."}],[{"start":272.32,"text":"His economy minister Oleksiy Sobolev earlier this month described the plan as a joint programme of Ukraine, the US, the EU and the G7 for postwar reconstruction and economic growth in Ukraine over a 10-year period — the cost of which would be $800bn."}],[{"start":292.15,"text":"“It focuses not only on rebuilding what was destroyed, but also on economic transformation and modernisation so that Ukraine has a strong competitive economy, social stability and high defence capabilities — thereby strengthening European and global security,” said Sobolev."}],[{"start":312.72999999999996,"text":"According to WEF president Børge Brende, nearly 400 government leaders including Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, Argentina’s Javier Milei and Colombia’s leader Gustavo Petro, will attend this year’s summit."}],[{"start":333.36999999999995,"text":"Additional reporting by Christopher Miller in Kyiv"}],[{"start":347.2399999999999,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1768356630_8027.mp3"}