By Kanishka Singh and Gram Slattery
September 24, 2024
- Zelenskiy: Decisive US action could hasten end of war on Ukraine
- Voters of Eastern European descent key in Pennsylvania
- No meeting set between Trump and Zelenskiy, sources say
Sept 23 (Reuters) – Donald Trump said on Monday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wanted the Democrats to win the 2024 U.S. election, in which the former president faces Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.
The Republican presidential candidate’s statement on the campaign trail contrasts with the line adopted by some of his allies, who have argued that Ukraine would welcome Trump back as only he – in their telling – has the acumen to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
“I think Zelenskiy is the greatest salesman in history. Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with 60 billion dollars,” Trump said at a rally in western Pennsylvania. “He wants them to win this election so badly, but I would do differently – I will work out peace.”
Harris’ campaign, in an emailed statement, called out Trump for not having said he wants Ukraine to win the war.
“Vice President Harris understands that if America walks away from Ukraine, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe and our NATO allies,” said Morgan Finkelstein, the national security spokesperson for Harris’ campaign.
Americans of Eastern European descent – including Ukrainian-Americans and Polish-Americans – have become a sought-after voting bloc for both campaigns, particularly in Pennsylvania, which hosts significant Polish and Ukrainian populations.
Washington and its allies have provided a multi-billion dollar assistance program to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, while also imposing several rounds of sanctions against Moscow.
Trump has consistently described U.S. aid to Ukraine as a waste of money and has declined to say he wants Ukraine to win. While Trump and Zelenskiy talked over the phone in July, they have not talked in person since Trump’s 2017-2021 term.
Zelenskiy has previously said he cannot predict what Trump would do if he won in November, but hoped the Republican would maintain U.S. military support for Ukraine.
In a July interview with the BBC, Zelenskiy said working with Trump would be “hard work, but we are hard workers.”
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions more and devastated Ukrainian towns and cities.
Putin says peace talks can begin only if Kyiv abandons swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia and drops its NATO membership ambitions. Zelenskiy has called repeatedly for a withdrawal of all Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine’s post-Soviet borders.
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Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Gram Slattery in Washington; Additional reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Stephen Coates and Sonali Paul
“I think Zelenskiy is the greatest salesman in history. Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with 60 billion dollars,” Trump said at a rally in western Pennsylvania. “He wants them to win this election so badly, but I would do differently – I will work out peace.”
He’s obviously very proud of this line, because he keeps repeating it at his rallies, to rapturous approval. That is why 60% of his voters now oppose all aid to Ukraine.
Tell that to the thousands of Ukrainian mothers whose children have been murdered by putinaZi savages.
Tell that to the mother of the young soldier who was tortured in the genitals with electricity by fiends. A talented linguist; a polyglot, who now is unable to speak.
Hey Trump you narcissistic moron. I’d venture to say not only Zelensky but the majority if not unanimous Ukrainians and Ukrainian Americans want you to lose and just go away. Wanting democrats is perhaps a second option but getting rid of you is the No.1 priority.