President Volodymyr Zelensky and former U.S. President Donald Trump are scheduled to speak over the phone on July 19, CNN reported on July 18, citing two sources with knowledge of the planned call.
Trump on July 18 accepted the Republican party's nomination to run for president in the 2024 U.S. election.
The call would be the first conversation between Zelensky and Trump after Trump left office in 2021.
The sources said that plans for a call between Zelensky and Trump have been in the works for some time. One source cautioned that schedules can often change.
Zelensky is currently visiting the U.K., and is also expected to address the newly assembled British Cabinet on July 19.
Trump's opposition to military aid to Ukraine has raised concerns about ongoing U.S. support for Kyiv if the former president wins a second term. Zelensky said on July 18 that dealing with a Trump administration would be "hard work."
During his speech formally accepting the Republican party nomination, Trump repeated his claim that Russia would not have launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine if he had been president at the time.
Multiple Democratic lawmakers have called on U.S. President Joe Biden to drop out of the race amid questions over his fitness for office and weak performance against Trump in current polls.
Oleg Sukhov
(Updated: )
