The leaders of Ukraine and Russia began jockeying for influence with newly elected President Donald Trump in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. election, seeking to gain an advantage through public statements Thursday in his promised push for a resolution to their years-long conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Thursday for “a fair end to the war” and warned that a quick end to hostilities could force his country into defeat.
“A quick end would be a loss,” Zelensky told reporters at a summit in Budapest hosted by Viktor Orban, the European Union's biggest critic of aid to Kiev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump on his victory and said the Republican, who during his campaign promised to broker a peace deal between the two countries and suggested he wanted to scale back or end U.S. aid to Kiev, had ideas that were worthwhile to investigate.
“It seems to me that what has been said about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, deserves attention,” Putin said late Thursday at the annual meeting of the Valdai Club in the city of Sochi. Black Sea. his first comments on Trump's re-election. “I have always said that we will work with any head of state who has the trust of the American people.”
The dueling remarks underscored the extent to which Trump's election has conflated the international politics surrounding the war, in which U.S. and European leaders have so far provided billions of dollars in weapons and aid to Ukraine as it tries to stave off Russia's invasion keep out.
Trump, who had predicted he could end the conflict the day after his election, gave few indications of how he planned to tackle that challenge in an interview with NBC News on Thursday.
Trump said he had already spoken to Zelenskiy, but that Putin was not among the “probably” 70 phone calls he has had with world leaders since he won the election. But, Trump said, he still planned to have a conversation with the Russian leader.
“I think we will speak,” Trump said.
'Open question'
But Orban, one of Trump's closest allies on the world stage, said US and European aid to Ukraine amounting to 50 billion euros already agreed upon was now an “open question”.
American and European countries were tired of setting aside money and the package is insufficient to continue financing Ukraine, Orbán said after the summit.
Zelensky had hoped to strengthen that support from his European allies in the aftermath of Trump's election victory. But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was late for the meeting after his coalition government collapsed overnight, partly due to a dispute over aid to Ukraine.
Western officials have said privately for months that Zelenskiy's goal of pushing Russia out of Ukrainian territory appears unattainable in the near future, expressing their hope for an end to the fighting.
“Some of you who were here strongly advocated for Ukraine to make concessions,” Zelenskiy told leaders earlier during the summit. “It is unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all of Europe.”
As Zelensky spoke to European leaders, Russian forces hit the city of Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine with five slide bombs on Thursday, killing four people and wounding at least 18 civilians, the regional government said on Telegram. The country was also targeted by a barrage of more than 100 explosive-laden drones.
Putin gave no indication that Russia is willing to make concessions to end the war he started in February 2022. He has repeatedly said he is ready to hold talks, while insisting that any negotiations take into account the realities on the ground since his forces invaded. Ukraine and occupied parts of the south and east of the country.
Russian officials are swinging between thinly veiled joy and concern about the prospect of another four-year term for Trump. Despite his comments on the Ukraine conflict and efforts to curry favor with Putin during his first administration, Trump also imposed new sanctions, including on aluminum producer Rusal and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, and expelled dozens of Russian diplomats .
“Many people who are close to power in Moscow and understand US policy are afraid of Trump's victory,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the consultancy R.Politik and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “You can drink a bottle of wine, dance with joy and then get a terrible hangover.”
Ukraine's staunchest supporters in Eastern Europe have argued that giving Zelenskiy the weapons and money to defeat Putin is not only the right thing to do, but also the most effective solution. If Putin succeeds in Ukraine, he will pose a greater threat to Europe and that will require much greater investment in defense.
“The European values- and rules-based system will also be somewhat decided in the conflict,” Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on the eve of the talks. “That will probably also leave a mark on Europe.”
But on the sidelines of the summits, some European leaders held their first phone calls with Trump since the election.
Zelenskiy said he had not discussed the possibility of a quick end to the fighting when he spoke to Trump on Wednesday in the wake of the election results. “This is on the horizon,” he told reporters. “It is clear to me that he wants to end it.”
Zelenskiy previously said he wanted U.S. help to force Russia to negotiate on Ukrainian terms and avoid a frozen conflict that would give Moscow time to rearm and attack again.
European allies
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was involved in a series of bilateral meetings with other leaders, according to another senior official. Starmer is discussing with his European allies how to deepen defense coordination and increase aid to Ukraine, especially if Trump cuts aid after taking power in January, the official said.
Britain is considering joint procurement with European countries and participation in military exercises, the official added.
US President Joe Biden has so far refused to provide what Kiev says it needs to achieve a just peace. That plan includes an invitation to join NATO and permission to use Western weapons to strike military targets deep inside Russia.
According to Western diplomats, American thinking is unlikely to change in the months that Biden is still in power. Most allies do not want to risk getting involved in a war with Russia, while a symbolic invitation would have limited negotiating power, she added, asking not to be identified.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Biden was focused on continuing the foreign policy he had pursued and ensuring Ukraine got what it needed for its defense.
The diplomats also said that even if Kiev were allowed to launch long-range strikes inside Russia, it does not have many missiles and not enough targets within its range to substantially change the balance on the ground.
Kyiv, on the other hand, believes this move will limit Russia's ability to continue undermining Ukraine's infrastructure and cities.
Critics have argued that Biden's Ukraine strategy signals continued stalemate as it is based on cautious incrementalism and fear of escalation. Any peace talks in the near future would take place with Russia occupying parts of its neighbor and Putin unwilling to let go of that country.
In the longer term, Ukraine's best bet to guarantee its security is to develop its own defense industry and capabilities with help from allies, and mobilize a stronger and younger military, some diplomats said.
During his speech in Budapest, Zelenskiy also made an indirect comment about the meeting's host, Orban, who has maintained ties with Putin and visited him in Moscow in July.
“Hugs with Putin will not help,” Zelenskiy said. “Some of you have been hugging him for 20 years, and things are only getting worse.”
