Donald Trump makes a call while playing golf at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, 27 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE / MICHAEL REYNOLDS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described his first call with Donald Trump on Wednesday as “excellent”, as proposals made by members of the US president-elect’s inner circle to end Russia’s war in Ukraine emerged following a stunning Republican victory in Tuesday’s election.
Zelensky wrote on X that he had congratulated Trump on his “historic landslide victory” in a phone call on Wednesday evening, during which the two agreed to “maintain close dialogue” and advance their cooperation.
Zelensky had earlier praised Trump’s “peace through strength” approach, which he said would “undoubtedly benefit” both the US and the rest of the world.
“People want confidence, they want freedom, they want a normal life. For us, that means a life free from Russian aggression, with a strong America, a strong Ukraine, and strong allies”, Zelensky said in his nightly address to the nation on Wednesday.
Throughout his electoral campaign, Trump had spoken in increasingly negative terms about Zelensky, at one point calling him the “greatest salesman on Earth” and criticising him for “refusing to make a deal” with Russia in a series of scathing attacks.
In a jubilant speech to supporters after his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris was all but assured on Wednesday morning, Trump made no direct mention of Ukraine, but promised that he would be the president to “stop wars” during his time in office.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he alone is capable of ending the war in a single day through personal diplomacy with Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, but has offered few details on what any negotiated settlement would look like.
On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that, despite differing views on peace terms among Trump’s advisors, there was consensus on freezing the war along the current front lines — leaving some 20% of Ukrainian territory under Russian control — and forcing Ukraine to “temporarily suspend” its efforts to join NATO.
One proposal would also see Kyiv commit to not joining NATO for 20 years, in exchange for which the US would “continue to pump Ukraine full of weapons to deter a future Russian attack”, three unnamed sources close to Trump told the WSJ.
Trump himself has not yet approved a specific peace plan, the WSJ said, with a former National Security Council aide noting that he “makes his own calls on national security issues, many times in the moment”.
