Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Wednesday that he held a phone call with President-elect Donald Trump shortly after his victory in the 2024 presidential election, applauding Trump’s campaign promise to return America to a prominent geopolitical position.
Zelensky described the conversation as an “excellent call,” possibly recalling the years of controversy surrounding a conversation between the two presidents that Democrats in Congress attempted to use to impeach Trump in 2019; Trump repeatedly referred to that phone call as “perfect,” while Zelensky repeatedly insisted that the conversation was appropriate for two heads of state.
The Ukrainian president became one of the first world leaders to congratulate Trump on Wednesday after news agencies affirmed that he had crossed the 270-electoral vote threshold needed to secure the presidency for a second time, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.
In his statement on his call with Trump on Wednesday, Zelensky emphasized the large lead in votes that Trump obtained against Harris, praised Trump’s “tremendous campaign” and “landslide victory,” and offered praise to the president-elect’s family.
“We agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation. Strong and unwavering U.S. leadership is vital for the world and for a just peace,” Zelensky said.
In an evening address to the Ukrainian nation on Wednesday, Zelensky beamed with optimism at the expected change in America’s policies from outgoing President Joe Biden to Trump.
“Today is indeed a special day, and one piece of news is grabbing everyone’s attention around the world. The absolutely convincing election results in America. A clear leadership of President Trump. I congratulate him on this victory,” Zelensky said.
“In general, it was extremely important for us in Ukraine and for all of Europe to consistently hear the words of the then-45th President of the United States about ‘peace through strength,’” the president said. “And if this becomes the policy principle of the 47th President of the United States, America and the whole world will undoubtedly benefit from it.”
“It is not without reason that Ronald Reagan is mentioned so often these days – people want confidence, they want freedom, a normal life,” he continued. “And for us, this means a life free from Russian aggression, and with a strong America, with a strong Ukraine, with strong allies.”
Zelensky recalled several conversations and meetings with Trump throughout the year in anticipation of his possible victory while thanking Democrats for their “bipartisan support.” Trump and Zelensky last met in person in New York in September, when the Ukrainian president visited the country to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
At the time, Zelensky said that he and Trump had a “common view that the war has to be stopped and Putin can’t win.”
“We both want to see this end, and we both want to see a fair deal made,” Trump said. “It should stop and the president (Zelensky) wants it to stop, and I’m sure President Putin wants it to stop and that’s a good combination.”
Trump also accepted an invitation to visit Ukraine.
In his initial congratulations to President-elect Trump, Zelensky reiterated his belief in “peace through strength.”
“We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership,” the Ukrainian president said.
“We are interested in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations,” he wrote. “I am looking forward to personally congratulating President Trump and discussing ways to strengthen Ukraine’s strategic partnership with the United States.”
Zelensky was elected to the presidency of his country – a remarkable feat given his lack of political experience and history as a comic actor – in 2019, late into the Trump presidency. The two leaders nonetheless enjoyed a close relationship, one that Congressional Democrats exploited in an attempt to impeach then-President Trump. Democrats accused Trump of holding a phone call with Zelensky in which he inappropriately encouraged the Ukrainian president to investigate corruption by the Biden family in his country.
“I never talked to the president from the position of a quid pro quo. That’s not my thing,” Zelensky insisted in an interview. He repeatedly denied the Democrats’ charges and insisted that their conversation was appropriate, making it impossible for Democrats to continue their impeachment.
Trump favorably recalled Zelensky’s support through the impeachment proceedings in September.
“When they did the impeachment hoax, it was a hoax, just a Democrat hoax, which we won,” he explained. “But one of the reasons we won it so easily is that when [President Zelensky] was asked — it was over a phone call with the president — and he said he could have grandstanded and played cute, but he didn’t do that.”
“He said President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong. He said it loud and clear, and the impeachment hoax died right there,” he continued. “He could have said, ‘Well, I don’t know. I don’t know.’ And I never even talked to you about this, to be honest. But he was, he was like a piece of steel. He said, ‘President Trump did nothing wrong. We had a very nice call.’”
