Working with Donald Trump if he is re-elected U.S. president would be "hard work, but we (Ukrainians) are hard workers," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with BBC on July 18.
Despite public disagreements with Trump about his plan to bring the war to an immediate end if he wins in November that reportedly involves ceding territory to Russia, Zelensky told the BBC he is ready to work with whoever is elected U.S. president to defeat Russia.
“Maybe he really doesn’t care, but we have to work with the United States,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky's comments mirror remarks made by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov who said on July 17 that Ukraine will find a way to combat Russia's forces even if former President Donald Trump wins a second term and jeopardizes vital U.S. support for its defense.
"We believe in U.S. leadership, and we believe America wants its partners and allies to be strong as well," Umerov said, according to the Associated Press as he was speaking remotely to government officials at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. "At this stage, we will focus on the battlefield," he noted. "Whatever the outcome" of the U.S. elections, "we will find solutions."
Trump has long criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine, and as the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 U.S. elections, his sway over the party had contributed to the months-long deadlock in Congress over U.S. aid to Ukraine.
Trump's newly-appointed vice presidential running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, is thought to be an even more outspoken opponent of U.S. support for Ukraine, and has openly endorsed territorial concessions as part of a potential peace deal.
In early July, Zelensky said that he is "potentially ready" to meet with Trump and urged him to reveal the details of his plan for ending Russia's war against Ukraine so Kyiv can be prepared for any risks such a plan might entail.
Chris York
