Former President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held their first telephone conversation Saturday after Mr. Trump’s formal nomination as the Republican presidential candidate last week, a nomination that has raised new questions over future U.S. support for Kyiv in its 2 1/2-year war against Russia.
Both sides said the discussion went well and Mr. Zelenskyy’s spokesman told reporters in Kyiv that preliminary discussions were held on a possible trip by Mr. Trump to the Ukrainian capital. The Ukrainian president initiated the call, Mr. Trump said in a social media post after the conversation.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and I had a very good phone call earlier today,” Mr. Trump wrote. “I appreciate President Zelenskyy for reaching out because I … will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families. Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity.”
The Biden administration and some of Mr. Zelenskyy’s aides have expressed alarm at Mr. Trump’s repeated pledge that he could end the war with Russia within “24 hours” as president. They say any quick peace settlement would likely leave Russian forces in control of nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory in the east and south.
Mr. Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, voted against Mr. Biden’s $60 billion military aid package for Ukraine earlier this year and famously said in his successful 2022 race for the Senate that he did not care what happened to Ukraine “one way or the other.”
But with Mr. Trump running ahead of President Biden in many polls, the Zelenskyy government made the first move in reaching out to the Republican nominee.
According to Ukraine’s Interfax news agency, Serhiy Nykyforov, Mr. Zelenskyy’s press secretary, said the two men discussed a possible visit by Mr. Trump to Kyiv.
“Specific periods of time were discussed when this meeting might take place, but it is still very, very early to talk about this, Mr. Nykyforov said. “These teams will work and coordinate schedules and details when this may be possible.”
The Ukrainian spokesman also said Mr. Trump told Mr. Zelenskyy he was not as pro-Kremlin as many press reports suggested.
Mr. Trump “said a very interesting thing,” according to the press secretary. “He said not to believe the fake news that his victory in the elections could be beneficial to Russia.”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy have a tangled history. It was a July 2019 telephone conversation between the two men regarding aid to Ukraine and Mr. Biden’s possible ties to corruption in the country that led directly to Mr. Trump’s first impeachment by the Democrat-led House of Representatives later that year.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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