Donald Trump emerged as the winner of the Iowa caucuses, where Republicans voted for their preferred presidential candidate, results showed on Jan. 16.
Trump, who was president between 2017 and 2021, is currently ahead in the polls to become the Republican nominee for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, which will be held in November. Current President Joe Biden will run for re-election.
While the Republican nominee will be officially chosen during the Republican National Convention in July, state caucuses and primaries influence the eventual choice.
The states of Maine and Colorado, meanwhile, removed Trump from the ballot, ruling that he cannot be considered as a candidate because of the 14th Amendment's "insurrectionist ban" and his involvement in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The result of the election is expected to influence the course of Russia's war against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 19.
"If the policy of the next president – whoever he is – will be different toward Ukraine, colder or more inward-oriented, if there will be more focus on domestic policy... then I think these signals will greatly affect the course of the war in Ukraine," Zelensky said.
The president added that if Washington stopped supporting Ukraine, it could also negatively affect European aid.
Trump has broadly criticized Biden's policy on Ukraine and declared he would be able to resolve Russia's war against Ukraine in "24 hours."
In turn, Zelensky invited the former president to visit the country to illustrate such a solution is impossible. Trump refused the offer.
Elsa Court
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