Zelensky congratulates Trump on victory after president-elect vows to ‘stop wars’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Donald Trump on his election win Wednesday — after the former president vowed to “stop wars” in his victory speech.

“Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his impressive election victory!” Zelensky wrote on X. “We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership.”

The Ukrainian lead said he spoke with Trump, 78, back in September to outline his “Victory Plan” in the war against Russia, hoping that Trump’s “peace through strength” policy will help end Moscow’s aggression.

“We are interested in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations,” Zelensky said.

“I am looking forward to personally congratulating President Trump and discussing ways to strengthen Ukraine’s strategic partnership with the United States,” he added.

Meanwhile, a Kremlin insider suggested that Trump’s election could be an opportunity for Russia to reset relations with the US, which have been at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“This opens up new opportunities for resetting relations between Russia and the United States,” said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a senior figure in Russia’s political elite.

Zelensky’s congratulations came after Trump declared victory overnight against Vice President Kamala Harris, with the Republican nominee laying out a promise to bring the tumultuous wars America is involved in to an end.

“I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars,” Trump said during his victory speech.

“We had no wars, for four years we had no wars. Except we defeated ISIS,” Trump added.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that his return to the White House would mean a swift end to the war in Ukraine, which has gone on for more than two years. In 2023 he told a town hall, “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.”

The president-elect has called for a negotiated end to the fighting, adding that Russia should be allowed to keep the territory it has invaded, a condition Ukraine has said is unacceptable.

Moscow currently controls about one fifth of Ukraine after launching its invasion in early 2022, including Crimea and the vast majority of the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region.

It also remains unclear if American military and financial aid to Ukraine will continue at the same level under Trump, who has had a complicated history with Zelensky.

Trump’s efforts to leverage aid to Ukraine to force Zelensky to probe President Joe Biden was the key focus of Trump’s first impeachment in 2019.

With Post wires