The coming presidential election in the United States poses a “challenge” for Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in an interview with French media including AFP.
A vital ally, the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military assistance for Kyiv since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A victory for Republican candidate Donald Trump — who claims he would be able to force the sides into a negotiated settlement — would bring Washington’s continued support into question.
“We cannot influence any election. Of course, the United States is a challenge today. And there are risks that probably none of us can predict,” he told reporters in western Ukraine on Tuesday.
The Democrats’ presumptive White House nominee Kamala Harris meanwhile has echoed President Joe Biden’s pro-Ukraine stance.
Zelensky said his team had been in touch both with Harris’s aides and the Trump campaign.
“As president of Ukraine, I must, of course, have a dialogue between my team and the Biden, Trump, and today Harris teams,” Zelensky said.
“We have to have all these contacts and talk about what our future might look like if one side or the other wins the election,” he said.
