"We should be grateful to him": former ambassador to US explained why Trump's electoral victory is not a dead end for Ukraine

If Donald Trump is elected president of the United States for the second time, this will not mean that military and financial assistance to Ukraine will stop. Ukraine already has a lot to thank Trump for.

However, Trump has not even received the status of a presidential candidate yet, so it is premature to make predictions about his future presidency. This opinion was expressed by Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States in 2019-2021, in an exclusive interview with OBOZ.UA.

"In order to make such predictions, Trump must first become at least a presidential contender. This is not the case yet. Iowa is an important stage but it is far from the end of the election campaign," the diplomat said, referring to Trump's victory in the primaries in this US state.

Yelchenko also assured that the statements of a presidential candidate are usually very different from those of a person who is already in office. The same may be true of Trump.

"It's one thing to make statements about Trump as a presidential candidate or a potential candidate, and it's another thing to say how he will behave as president if he is elected. I have no doubt that in this case, they will be two completely different people," the diplomat said.

In this context, he recalled that it was during Trump's presidency that the US military assistance to Ukraine began. "So, in fact, we should be grateful to him for launching an important process of armed assistance to our country," the diplomat said.