President-Elect Donald J. Trump has hit the ground running, is concentrated on choosing his staff and team, and also busy with calls from and to foreign leaders around the planet.
One of these first calls was with embattled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A distinct feature of this call was the fact that tech billionaire and new Trump partner Elon Musk joined on the conversation, in what many see as a further sign that the world’s richest man’s input is valued within the new administration.
The Telegraph reported:
“The SpaceX owner, who has expressed doubt that Ukraine can beat Russia, was reported to have told Mr. Zelensky that he will continue to support Kiev through the company’s Starlink network, which its forces use for communications.”
Read: Musk Tells Trump He’d Serve on a Commission to Address Nation’s Government Spending Crisis
Zelensky has the by-now impossible goal of recapturing all the territory conquered by Russia, which is not an objective defended by either Trump or Musk.
But sources say that the phone call with Trump did not alarm the Ukrainian leader.
“’Nothing of what Zelensky and his aides heard from Trump and his team in private has been alarming or made us feel that Ukraine is going to be the one who pays the price’, one of the sources said.”
Zelensky and staff have been preparing for Trump victory.
While Musk presence on the call was a surprising development, it was not a bad one.
Politico reported:
“’Yes, at some point Trump passed the phone to Musk. No, nothing unusual, they had a normal conversation’, a Ukrainian official close to Zelensky told POLITICO. ‘President [Zelensky] just thanked Musk for Starlinks’, he added, referring to Musk’s satellite internet system.
[…] While a recent Wall Street Journal report stated that Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has publicly opposed aid to Ukraine while spreading pro-Kremlin narratives about Ukraine on X, Starlink terminals have been vital for the communication of Ukraine’s army and its civilian population during blackouts caused by Moscow’s attacks on energy infrastructure.”
Trump has harshly criticized American military aid for Kiev, but he also recently said that he will support Ukraine.
Zelensky thinks that the call coming so soon after Trump’s victory is a positive sign
“’I praised family and team for the great work. 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 after the call in a statement.”
Read More:
