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Ukraine nervously awaits Trump's presidency

2024-11-07 15:19:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

During his first presidency, Donald Trump had troubled relations with Ukraine and with its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in particular.

Trump's questioning was first sparked by a July 2019 phone call in which Trump appeared to condition military aid to Ukraine on a criminal investigation of the son of Joe Biden, then the vice president, and of Biden himself, who would be pushed forward by Zelensky.

Five years later, Trump is returning to the White House, and his misgivings about Ukraine, and its defense against an all-out Russian invasion, may become formal policy of his presidency.

In meeting with Zelensky in New York, two months before the November 5 election, Trump described his confrontation with the impeachment process as a "fraud by the Democrats."

More problematic for Ukraine's defense was his insistence that he would end the war - now in its 33rd month - "very soon".

This, according to Trump, would happen in part due to the fact that he has a "good relationship" with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin.

"I think if we win [the election], we'll solve it very quickly," Trump said.

Putin, meanwhile, has shown no real interest in ending the fighting on anything other than Russia's maximalist terms, which some Ukrainians fear are capitulation or even submission.

During the campaign, Trump even mocked Zelensky, calling him the "biggest salesman" and criticizing the substantial supplies of US weapons and military equipment - worth $56 billion to date - to help him. Kiev against the Russian invasion.

"Every time he comes to our country, he leaves with $60 billion," Trump said in July.

For his part, Zelensky, who enjoys significant bipartisan support in Congress, tried to build bridges with the Republican leader and was quick to congratulate him on his victory.

“I appreciate President Trump's commitment to a 'peace through strength' approach to global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can bring peace in Ukraine closer," Zelensky wrote in X.

So Kiev has reason to be nervous. /REL