Zelenskyy Holds 'Excellent' Phone Call With Trump

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Facts

  • Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he held "an excellent" phone call with Pres.-Elect Donald Trump hours after his "historic landslide victory" on Wednesday.[1]
  • Zelenskyy said he praised Trump's family and team "for their great work," adding that the pair "agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation." He further stated: "Strong and unwavering US leadership is vital for the world and for a just peace."[1]
  • Despite the display of unity, the pair's relationship has not been without difficulty. In a 2019 call during Trump's first term in office, while congratulating Zelenskyy on his election victory, Trump called on his counterpart to investigate the firing of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin.[2][3]
  • Shokin, who had been investigating Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings, was removed in 2016 following pressure from then-Vice Pres. Joe Biden. Trump's request to have this looked into resulted in the US House of Representatives voting to impeach to him on the charge of investigating his political rivals.[3][4]
  • During the presidential campaign Trump repeatedly insisted that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would not have happened under his watch and that, if elected, he would quickly resolve it. His comments have brought into question whether US military aid to Ukraine would continue under his presidency.[5]
  • Zelenskyy is expected on Thursday to make the case for additional aid to Ukraine following Trump's election win. Meanwhile, speaking to Politico, US officials said the Biden administration is attempting to rush through the last $6B of available military assistance before Trump is inaugurated.[6][7]

Sources: [1]Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X, [2]CNN (a), [3]Forbes, [4]CNN (b), [5]CNN (c), [6]BBC News and [7]POLITICO.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Guardian. Despite Ukraine's Zelenskyy putting on a brave face, the election of Trump is devastating news for his country, and is a massive gift to Putin and the Kremlin. Trump's insistence on rapidly striking a deal would likely force Ukraine to hand over vast swaths of territory, and mean that it would be non-aligned with NATO, both of which are unacceptable.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Responsible Statecraft. Irrespective of who won the US election, Ukraine is losing the war and is now losing territory at the fastest rate seen in the conflict. Democratic leadership would have prolonged the war with the provision of more weapons, only increasing the nation's suffering; at least under Trump there's a good chance the conflict will be brought to a speedy close, stopping thousands of Ukrainian soldiers from dying unnecessarily.