Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy Downplays Concerns about Funding if Donald Trump Wins US Presidential Election | Global News
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has downplayed the potential threat of US funding being withdrawn for Ukraine if Donald Trump wins this year’s presidential election.
Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, the Ukrainian leader said “one man cannot change the whole nation,” but admitted that stances taken by some in the Republican Party have raised concerns in his country.
Political infighting has delayed more military aid from the US, with Republicans resisting Democrat President Joe Biden‘s request to offer more support to Kyiv in its war against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces.
And Mr Trump, who is the leading Republican presidential candidate, has declined to commit to continuing military assistance for Ukraine and has said he could end the war “in 24 hours” if re-elected to the White House.
In December last year, Mr Zelenskyy declined to answer when asked if a victory for Mr Trump would threaten the independence of his country.
But he said on Tuesday that “radical voices really scare the society in Ukraine,” not just from Mr Trump but also “the voices of a significant part of Republicans.”
Meanwhile, residents of more than two dozen villages in the eastern Kharkiv region were urged to evacuate on Tuesday because of worsening Russian attacks as the war nears its second anniversary.
Mr Zelenskyy warned that Mr Putin “will not stop” and said he “embodies war” as he criticized him for imposing “the terrifying feeling that the war may never end.”
“Anyone [who] thinks this is only about us, this is only about Ukraine, they are fundamentally mistaken,” he added, in a bid to cast Ukraine as a pillar in defense of democracies.
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He said his “heart goes out to the people of Mykolaiv,” where a Sky News team is, as the city has faced “constant attacks.” He also addressed the need for outside support for Ukraine’s military capabilities.
