US presidential candidate Donald Trump has accused Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of refusing to make a “deal” to end the war in Ukraine. “We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelensky,” the Republican said at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday.
“Every time he came to our country, he took $60 billion,” Trump said. Zelensky is “probably the greatest businessman in the world.” The question is what is now left for Ukraine? “The country is completely wiped out,” said the former president.
The Ukrainian head of state is currently in the USA for several days to lobby Western allies for further support for his country in the war against Russia, which has been going on for more than two and a half years. On Wednesday Zelenskyj gave a speech at the UN general debate in New York, and on Thursday he will be received by US President Joe Biden and Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Washington.
A meeting between Zelensky and Trump also seemed to have been planned, but is now apparently not taking place. US media reported that Trump was bothered by an interview with the Ukrainian president in which he said that the 78-year-old Republican “doesn’t really know how to stop the war.”
Trump, long a sharp critic of US billions in aid to Ukraine, had repeatedly boasted that if he were re-elected, he would end the Ukraine war “within 24 hours.” Zelensky said in his speech to the UN General Assembly that Ukrainians would never agree to an externally imposed agreement with Russia.
In April, the US Congress approved $61 billion (54.7 billion euros) in military aid for Ukraine. However, the Republican Party had previously blocked the money for months at the behest of its presidential candidate. If Trump wins the election on November 5th against the Democratic candidate Harris, Kiev fears that the USA will no longer be its most important supporter.
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