EMBATTLED UKRAINIAN LEADER Volodymyr Zelenskyy was one of the first out this morning to congratulate Donald Trump on his “impressive victory”, saying he hoped Trump’s presidency would bring “just peace in Ukraine closer”.

The issue for Zelenskyy, and for the East European countries that surround Ukraine, is whether or not Trump will follow through on his hints of withdrawing support.

His election comes as Russia makes gains on the eastern reaches of Ukraine near the city of Donetsk, while North Korea has sent troops to fight for Russia.

Trump declared on CNN in May 2023 that he could end the Ukraine war “in 24 hours”.

“They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians,” Trump said. “I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.”

Reports from the US suggest that Trump aides believe the new President’s plan could be to force Ukraine into territorial concessions by laying conditions on US assistance.

Trump’s running mate JD Vance recently intimated that a negotiated settlement would be needed. 

“I think it’s important if we’re ever going to end the war in Ukraine, fundamentally, at some level, we’re going to have to engage in some sort of negotiation between Ukraine, between Russia, between our NATO allies in Europe, and that’s just a necessary part,” he said. 

Trump was impeached in 2019 for essentially pressuring Zelenskyy to open a criminal probe into President Joe Biden and his son Hunter over business deals in Ukraine. 

This morning it was reported by the news agency AFP that behind closed doors some high level Ukrainian officials are taking a wait-and-see approach. 

Sources here in Ireland suggest a similar outlook among policy leaders across Europe, with the upshot of Trump’s election too early to call.

For its part, the Kremlin said it would judge Donald Trump, on his actions and that President Vladimir Putin had no plans to congratulate him.

Relations between Russia and the US are at their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War, with Moscow angered by Western support for Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We will draw conclusions based on concrete steps and concrete words.”

The US is “capable of helping bring about the end of this conflict” in Ukraine, but is also “the country that is inflaming the conflict”, Peskov added.

Peskov said that Trump had made some “quite harsh statements” during his campaign, but that he also spoke of “his aspirations for peace on the international arena, about his aspirations to end politics based on continuing old wars”.

The Russian spokesman added that ending the war cannot happen overnight. 

The Kremlin suggested that it would be ”practically impossible” for the next administration to make Russia-US relations worse, since they are “at their lowest point in history”.

Meanwhile, the war in the eastern occupied fringes of Ukraine continues, with North Korea the latest authoritarian regime to lend its support to Russia’s war. 

Iran has provided weaponry, including drones, to the Putin regime – China has also sent its support. 

The US has sent $174bn (€162.5bn) worth of aid to assist the Ukrainians with sophisticated systems and other supports. The European Union has sent €88bn of humanitarian and military aid. 

What happens next will likely depend on whether there is a desire to keep spending that money.

With reporting from AFP.