““We are the new young America.” What will be the relationship between Zelensky and Trump — their past, points of contact and prospects are analyzed by Vadym Prystaiko November 7, 19:56 NV Premium Share: Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump. USA. September 2024 (Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine) Author: Oleksiy Tarasov Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in 2019-2020, and until 2023 – Ambassador of Ukraine to Great Britain Vadym Prystaiko”, — write on: ua.news
Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Donald Trump. USA. September 2024 (Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine)
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in 2019−2020, and until 2023 the Ambassador of Ukraine to Great Britain, Vadym Prystaiko, in an interview with Radio NV, analyzed what the world will be like under the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump, in particular, Washington’s relations with Kyiv.
— Top Ukrainian politicians should think about how to work with Trump, if they haven’t thought about it before. We also remember that the first clash between the then 45th President Trump and President Zelensky took place in 2019. The scandalous story when President Trump demanded to open a case against Joe Biden’s son Hunter. Then there was an impeachment attempt. At that time, you were the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Can you tell us how tense the situation was then and what was the experience of communication between the two presidents?
– Probably, ministers, even former ones, cannot tell everything that happened. But given the critical importance of this topic now, when Trump has become or will soon become the president again, I want to say that there have been several conversations. The first was during a meeting in Poland. The delegations met because everyone went to Poland, there were solemn events. And there was a phone call that everyone is referring to.
The American side did something unheard of in diplomacy – published a recording of this conversation. Although it was not complete, it created the effect of an exploding bomb.
I want to say officially, as a person who was at both meetings, that there was no direct pressure on the Ukrainian side, on the president, from the side of President Trump, as the Democrats talked about. I’ve said this many times, and not just now that we know who will fill the Oval Office. There were attempts, conversations, perhaps hints behind the scenes of these meetings. But there was no demand from the president as it was presented in the impeachment attempt.
– What conclusion can we draw? How can this situation—definitely unpleasant for President Trump and obviously unpleasant for President Zelensky—affect future Ukraine-US relations or Trump-Zelensky relations?
— You are absolutely right, effect “spoons that were found”, and the feeling and “sediment” remained. You can’t prove it to anyone, you probably need to move on.