Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and his team had been banking on Democratic candidate Kamala Harris winning November's US presidential election, Ukrainska Pravda has reported. With Donald Trump having emerged victorious, senior officials in Kiev are allegedly concerned that the Republican will be far less accommodating to their requests than a Democrat president.
While on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly vowed to put an end to the Ukraine conflict. While he has yet to present any peace plan, some of his close associates have suggested freezing the hostilities along the current front line – a scenario which both Kiev and Moscow have publicly rejected.
In an article on Wednesday, Ukrainska Pravda, citing multiple anonymous officials, claimed that shortly before Americans went to the polling stations, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andrey Yermak, was reassuring his colleagues that “there is no need to panic [and] Kamala will win.”
When the results came in, Zelensky’s team reportedly scrambled to work out a “plan B,” the Ukrainian outlet claims. According to the publication, the leadership in Kiev sees Trump as unpredictable, as evidenced by the mixed signals his team has been sending.
Zelensky’s officials supposedly fear that their so-called ‘Victory Plan,’ which among other things demands Ukraine be admitted to NATO, could lose its relevance under the new US head of state.
According to the newspaper, the Ukrainian leadership is well aware that many so-called ‘MAGA’ Republicans, including Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr. and billionaire Elon Musk, “are not our friends.” However, Kiev is reportedly counting on the support of mainstream GOP voters, many of whom are more supportive of Ukraine.
The media outlet quoted a source as saying that Ukraine is not on top of Trump’s agenda, and that, contrary to his campaign claims, the Republican has not devised a comprehensive roadmap for ending the conflict.
The article, citing another unnamed official, alleged that the Ukrainian leadership should now be cautious not to rub the new US administration the wrong way for fear of Washington imposing unfavorable peace terms on Kiev.
Another anonymous source concluded that “without Trump, nothing will work,” as the US may have the leverage needed to get Russia to engage in negotiations.