Donald Trump pledged on Friday to “resolve” the conflict in Ukraine in the event of victory in the American presidential election in November, following a highly scrutinized interview with Volodymyr Zelensky.
“This war should never have taken place, but we are going to resolve it,” said the former American president from New York, without explaining how.
The billionaire, a candidate in the November 5 election, described the conflict as a “complex puzzle” and called for a “fair deal for everyone”.
By beginning his exchange with the Ukrainian president, Donald Trump had already praised his “very good relationship” with Volodymyr Zelensky – but also with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I hope we have better relations,” reacted the Ukrainian president, visibly embarrassed.
At the end of the meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “grateful” for a “very productive” meeting, ensuring that he had presented Donald Trump with his “victory plan”.
“Best salesperson on the planet”
Traveling to the United States since Sunday, Volodymyr Zelensky met the former American president, assured of the support of the current administration – but obviously worried about the future of aid to his country at war.
Donald Trump regularly denounces the enormous amounts released by Washington for kyiv since 2022.
Just this week, the septuagenarian called Volodymyr Zelensky “the best salesman on the planet”. “Every time he comes to our country, he leaves with $60 billion,” he quipped.
A meeting between the two men had been mentioned in recent days, on the occasion of Mr. Zelensky’s visit to the United States – the fourth since the start of the Russian invasion.
But that interview was put on hold, apparently because of an interview with the Ukrainian leader in which he said the Republican candidate didn’t “really know how to stop this war.”
Donald Trump has in fact repeatedly claimed that if he were re-elected, he would resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine “in 24 hours” – without ever explaining how.
Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump also have serious liabilities.
The Republican was the target at the end of his mandate in 2019-2020 of an impeachment procedure in the United States for having tried to put pressure, during a telephone call, on the Ukrainian president so that Ukraine investigation into the son of Joe Biden, his rival for the 2020 presidential election.
Support from Biden and Harris
The meeting between the two men on Friday came the day after a visit to Washington by the Ukrainian president, where he spoke with Joe Biden and his vice-president Kamala Harris, after a visit to the American Congress.
“Russia will not win,” the American president said Thursday when receiving him at the White House.
In a separate meeting, Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris insisted that her support for the Ukrainian people was “unwavering.”
“There are people in my country who would like to force Ukraine to give up large portions of its sovereign territory, […] these are proposals for capitulation, which is dangerous and irresponsible,” she added in an allusion to her Republican rival Donald Trump.
So many exchanges which “took place exactly as planned”, greeted Volodymyr Zelensky in a message on table”.
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