Donald Trump’s return to the White House could have a “big impact” on the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned, less than a year after the US presidential election.
“If the policy of the next president, whoever he is, will be different towards Ukraine, colder or more frugal, then I think that these signals will have a strong influence on the course of the war,” Zelensky said during the big annual press conference.
Zelensky estimated that Donald Trump is a “different personality” from Joseph Biden and that he will therefore have a “different policy”. However, the Ukrainian president hopes that the main features of American policy towards Kiev will be maintained, AFP agency writes.
The US presidential elections will be held in November next year, and many observers already consider them a declaration of the West’s continued support for Ukraine. The reduction of American support to Ukraine could also affect that of the European Union, which “certainly will not have a positive effect on Ukraine”, according to the Ukrainian president.
“I am convinced that the United States will not betray us, that what we agreed there will be respected,” believes Zelensky.
He said this a few days after returning from a diplomatic tour aimed at persuading the US and Europe to continue militarily supporting Kyiv, which has been fighting Russia for almost two years.
On the trip, he managed to open accession negotiations with the EU but failed to get the support of the US Congress for about 61 billion dollars of new aid. Even the EU failed to agree on a 50 billion euro aid package for Ukraine, because it was blocked by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Zelensky said that he would like to meet with him in order to “find a solution” to the disagreements.
“We are neighbors and we are trying to find solutions to our issues. But for that we have to organize a meeting,” he said.
