Trump Blasts Zelenskiy as Ukraine’s Aid Bid Hits Campaign Strife
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump lashed out at Volodymyr Zelenskiy for criticizing him and refusing to make a deal to end the conflict with Moscow, casting a shadow over the Ukrainian president’s latest push for more aid in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Most Read from Bloomberg
“The president of Ukraine is in our country and he’s making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me,” the Republican presidential nominee said at a campaign stop in Mint Hill, North Carolina. “We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal: Zelenskiy.”
Trump’s comments were some of the harshest public language he’s used about the conflict and the Ukrainian leader, who had hoped to meet the former president during a visit to the US this week but made critical comments in a media interview.
The Ukrainian president is in the US touting a new “victory plan” that he’s set to present to President Joe Biden in Washington Thursday. He’s seeking additional support for the fight, which is heading into its third winter with no sign of a breakthrough on the battlefield. The US election has deepened questions about whether Washington will continue its support.
Zelenskiy started his trip to the US with moves that alienated the Trump camp, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified to discuss matters that aren’t public. They said Trump won’t meet Zelenskiy this week.
Zelenskiy’s press office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
First was a weekend stop at an artillery-shell factory in Biden’s Pennsylvania hometown, attended by the state’s Democratic governor, a strong supporter of Trump’s presidential rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Then came the New Yorker magazine interview where Zelenskiy questioned Trump’s pledges to negotiate a quick end to the war if elected.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson released a letter to Zelenskiy Wednesday saying the factory visit was “clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference.” He called on Zelenskiy to fire his ambassador to Washington for having organized it.
The House Oversight Committee said it’s opening an investigation into what it called “the Biden-Harris Administration’s use of taxpayer funded resources to fly Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to Pennsylvania to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
The White House declined to comment.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said he was “beyond bothered” by Zelenskiy’s visit to the factory in Pennsylvania but that it was his comments in the interview that gave him cause for concern. Graham has been a staunch backer of Ukraine but is also a close ally of Trump.
“I don’t mind saying thank you for providing us bombs,” Graham said. “But the comments about Vance and Trump were not helpful.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how much damage Zelenskiy may have done to support for aid to Ukraine in Congress, where even some Republicans continue to back his country’s fight.
In a speech to the UN Wednesday, Zelenskiy called on other nations to support his peace plan and rejected alternatives that he said would only embolden Russia. “Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war,” he said.
Ahead of the Washington meetings, allied officials signaled that they don’t expect Zelenskiy’s so-called victory plan to yield a breakthrough in the war, which is heading into its third winter.
One person familiar with Zelenskiy’s conversations with foreign leaders, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said there were no real surprises in the victory plan and it wasn’t a major game-changer. Another official described it as a “wish list.”
Zelenskiy told reporters on Friday the plan aims to put his country in a stronger position for future diplomatic talks with Russia. Kyiv has worried that a cease-fire without clear guarantees would leave Russian President Vladimir Putin free to strike again after re-arming.
Trump has repeatedly promised to deliver a negotiated end to the war if elected but he hasn’t provided details of how that would happen.
“There was no deal that he could have made that wouldn’t have been better than the situation you have right now,” he said in the speech Wednesday.
--With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska, Hadriana Lowenkron, Stephanie Lai, Billy House and Nancy Cook.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
This Camera Went Viral Two Years Ago. You Still Can’t Buy One
Palantir’s CEO and Wall Street Annoy Each Other Straight to the Bank
Five Reasons to Be Optimistic About the Entertainment Business
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
