Herzog meets Zelensky, UN nuclear watchdog chief on sidelines of Davos forum

Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on January 22, 2025, shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) shaking hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog (L) prior to their talks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. (Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on January 22, 2025, shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) shaking hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog (L) prior to their talks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. (Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP)

President Isaac Herzog holds meetings with a series of world leaders on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Herzog met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi and a series of other foreign leaders.

Yesterday he also met on the sidelines of the conference with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and, during his own session, said he saw “clear potential” for reaching a deal on the next stages of the ceasefire.

The president’s office does not provide detailed readouts of the conversations, but notes that Herzog “emphasized the urgent and critical need to return the hostages held captive by Hamas, and to fully implement all stages of the hostage deal” in each of the meetings.

In a post on X, Zelensky says that he and Herzog discussed “important issues of Ukrainian-Israeli cooperation,” and that he welcomed the news of the three hostages released this week. The Ukrainian leader says they talked about “shared challenges, collaboration – particularly in the security sphere – and ways to achieve a just peace for Ukraine.”

Most Popular