Zelensky wants Democrats to win US presidential election, Trump claims

Donald Trump claimed in a speech on Sept. 23 that President Volodymyr Zelensky wants the Democrats to win the U.S. presidential election.

Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump said that if elected he would do things "differently" to the current administration.

President Joe Biden, who has sat in the White House throughout the full-scale war and played a key role in building the pro-Kyiv coalition, positioned Washington as Ukraine's leading military donor.

Early next year, Biden will pass over the keys for the White House either to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris or her Republican challenger, Trump.

"I think Zelensky is the greatest salesman in history. Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with 60 billion dollars," Trump said.

"He wants them to win this election so badly, but I would do (it) differently — I will work out peace."

Biden-Zelensky talks: Ukrainian soldiers want firepower to win but question if US wants Russia defeated

As President Volodymyr Zelensky kicked off a visit to the U.S. this week in a bid to secure more firepower for his army, Ukrainian soldiers on the ground monitored the news with half-hearted hope, questioning whether Kyiv’s top Western ally would provide enough to help them defeat Russia.

The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima

Trump's possible return to the White House is causing concern in Ukraine. The pro-Trump wing of the Republican Party blocked the U.S. aid bill in Congress for months earlier this year, which proved detrimental to the situation on the Ukrainian battlefields and contributed to the loss of a key city of Avdiivka.

Statements and rumors coming from Trump's inner circle also suggest he might seek to pressure Ukraine to cede territory or give up its NATO aspirations to achieve a quicker resolution of the war.

The ex-president has repeatedly said he would end the war within "24 hours if reelected" and evaded a question about whether he wants Ukraine to win during a recent debate with Harris.

In response to Trump's Sept. 23 comments, Morgan Finkelstein in a campaign email called out Trump for not stating that he wants Ukraine to win the war.

"Vice President Harris understands that if America walks away from Ukraine, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe and our NATO allies," he said.

Zelensky is currently in the U.S. to attend the 79th U.N. General Assembly in New York and present a five-point victory plan to the American leadership.​​

Trump previously said he would "probably" meet with Zelensky, as the Ukrainian leader said he also wants to present the victory plan to him.

Ukrainian drones are burning Russia’s oil refineries, but not its economy

Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian oil refineries are trying to achieve what Western sanctions couldn’t: grinding down what fuels Russia’s war machine and the backbone of its economy in an echo of the Allies’ oil bombing campaign on German assets in World War II. Since the start

The Kyiv IndependentDominic Culverwell