Zelensky Says War Will ‘End Sooner’ With Trump As President

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is certain the war with Russia will “end sooner” than it otherwise would have once Donald Trump becomes US president.

Zelensky said he had a “constructive exchange” with Trump during their phone conversation after his victory in the US presidential election.

He did not say whether Trump had made any demands regarding possible talks with Russia, but said he’d not heard anything from him that was contrary to Ukraine’s position.

Trump has consistently said his priority is to end the war – which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – and what he describes as a drain on US resources in the form of military aid to Kyiv.

Earlier this year, the US House of Representatives approved a $61bn (£49bn) military aid package.

The US has been the greatest supplier of arms to Ukraine. Between the start of the war and the end of June 2024, it delivered or committed to send weapons and equipment worth $55.5bn (£41.5bn), according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research organisation.

But domestically, support for arming Ukraine appears to have waned somewhat since the war began – particularly among Republican voters, who Trump successfully courted.

During the US election campaign, the former president turned president-elect repeatedly pledged to end the war “in a day” – but has yet to divulge how he intends to do so.