Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines have expressed hope that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will use his “common sense” to continue American support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
Trump’s impending return to the White House as the 47th U.S. president has sparked concerns that American support for Kyiv could diminish, as the Republican has long insisted that the only way to end the nearly three-year conflict is by brokering a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.
While Trump has remained vague about the details of a peace settlement, experts suggest it could involve pressuring Kyiv to make territorial concessions to Moscow, a move likely to embolden Russia and unsettle Ukraine and its allies in Europe.
Hoping that U.S. support will continue under the Trump administration, a 39-year-old Ukrainian soldier known by the call-sign ‘Mozart’ told Reuters news agency: “I think that Trump’s common sense won’t leave him and the support will continue. We understand that Russian terrorist organization, this mammoth, has no right to exist in the shape it is now.
“We must stop them now and here, during this ‘hot’ phase of the war. If we don’t hold them, I think that European countries won’t hold them [Russians] either.”
“We hope for ourselves. But we understand that without the world’s support we couldn’t deal [with Russians]. Sure, we have some hope [for the Western support], but we count on ourselves,” added ‘Mozart’ who is battling Russian forces in Ukraine’s northeastern region of Kharkiv, having joined the Ukrainian army in 2014.
A 43-year-old soldier called ‘Humi’, who returned to Kharkiv with his family after two years in Israel, said it was vital that Russian forces were not allowed to control more Ukrainian land, adding it would be very difficult to push them back once they had been entrenched.
He said: “I think we should not allow the Russian forces to break through closer to Kharkiv, because it would be quite hard to take the territory back later.”
While Trump has remained vague about the details of a peace settlement, experts suggest it could involve pressuring Kyiv to make territorial concessions to Moscow, a move likely to embolden Russia and unsettle Ukraine and its allies in Europe.
Hoping that U.S. support will continue under the Trump administration, a 39-year-old Ukrainian soldier known by the call-sign ‘Mozart’ told Reuters news agency: “I think that Trump’s common sense won’t leave him and the support will continue. We understand that Russian terrorist organization, this mammoth, has no right to exist in the shape it is now.
“We must stop them now and here, during this ‘hot’ phase of the war. If we don’t hold them, I think that European countries won’t hold them [Russians] either.”
“We hope for ourselves. But we understand that without the world’s support we couldn’t deal [with Russians]. Sure, we have some hope [for the Western support], but we count on ourselves,” added ‘Mozart’ who is battling Russian forces in Ukraine’s northeastern region of Kharkiv, having joined the Ukrainian army in 2014.
A 43-year-old soldier called ‘Humi’, who returned to Kharkiv with his family after two years in Israel, said it was vital that Russian forces were not allowed to control more Ukrainian land, adding it would be very difficult to push them back once they had been entrenched.
He said: “I think we should not allow the Russian forces to break through closer to Kharkiv, because it would be quite hard to take the territory back later.”
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