US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks to the press at Manhattan Criminal Court after a hearing in his case. (Angela Weiss/AFP)
- Donald
Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky spoke telephonically, the US Republican
nominee said on social media. - Trump,
referencing the call, claimed he would bring peace to the world and end the
Russia-Ukraine war. - Zelensky
confirmed his call with Trump and expressed thanks to the US for all their military
assistance.
WASHINGTON
– US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in a post on Truth
Social that he had a “very good call” on Friday with Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky and pledged to end the war pitting Kyiv against
Moscow through negotiations.
Zelensky
also reported his conversation with Trump and expressed thanks for US military
assistance. But he made no reference in a post on social media platform X on
efforts to end the 28-month-old conflict.
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Trump
has said he will end the war in Ukraine before he even takes office in January,
should he win the 5 November election. He has also said that had he been in
office when the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, the war
would not have taken place.
In
his Truth Social post, Trump said that as president he “will bring peace
to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives”.
“Both
sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence
and paves a path forward to prosperity,” Trump said.
Though
Trump has put forward few tangible policy proposals, he told Reuters in an
interview last year that Ukraine might have to cede some territory to reach a
peace agreement.
In
his post, Zelensky said he congratulated Trump on becoming the Republican
nominee and condemned the assassination attempt on him last week.
‘Resist Russian terror’
“I
wished him strength and absolute safety in the future,” Zelensky said.
“I
noted the vital bipartisan and bicameral American support for protecting our
nation’s freedom and independence.”
Ukraine,
he said, “will always be grateful to the United States for its help in
strengthening our ability to resist Russian terror. Russian attacks on our
cities and villages continue every day.”
Donald Trump started his RNC speech with a conciliatory tone as he accepted the Republican presidential nomination. However, he quickly shifted to familiar attacks and abandoned the message of unity that he had promised to embrace https://t.co/f658UW3kIx pic.twitter.com/6W0jiZnS9F
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 20, 2024
Zelensky
rejects any negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict, as long as Russian
troops remain in Ukraine.
The
Ukrainian president has proposed a peace plan, showcased again at a “world
summit” last month to which Russia was not invited, that calls for the
withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 post-Soviet
borders.
Russian
troops occupy about 20% of Ukrainian territory. Moscow’s forces have made
incremental gains in the east of the country along the 1 000km front since
capturing the key city of Avdiivka in February.
