Donald Trump’s election victory has fuelled fear among some Ukrainians that US support could be put under threat.
But one politician says he believes the president-elect will pursue “victory for Ukraine” and that Vladimir Putin is “not his friend”, despite reports the pair have recently spoken.
Oleksiy Goncharenko, Ukrainian MP for Podilsk in Odesa, told Sky News’ The World programme that Trump “doesn’t want to have his own Afghanistan like Biden had at the beginning of his term”.
The chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 remained a point of sharp criticism throughout Biden’s presidency.
“Ukraine is [Trump’s] business. Defeat in Ukraine will be his catastrophe, and victory in Ukraine will be his victory. I’m sure that he wants to be a winner, not loser, and that gives me some confidence,” he said.
Asked about the relationship between Trump and Putin following reports that they recently held a phone call on the conflict, the MP said: “I don’t think Putin is his friend, I don’t believe in this at all.
“Donald Trump will follow [the] best interest of the United States of America and the best interest… is to stop Russia,” he said.
Ukraine reports another record day for Russian losses
Ukraine claims Russia has lost a record number of troops for the second day in a row.
According to the latest update from the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, Moscow lost 1,950 men yesterday – surpassing the previous day’s record of 1,770.
Before that, the last record loss of 1,740 had been reported in May.
The figures do not distinguish between killed or wounded troops, though the overall consensus is that it includes dead, wounded, missing, and captured soldiers.
The Kremlin does not announce the number of dead and injured.
Leave a Reply