Scoop: Elon Musk joined Trump's call with Zelensky
Donald Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday included two surprises: Elon Musk was also on the line, and Zelensky was somewhat reassured by what he heard from the president-elect, two sources with knowledge of the call tell Axios. Why it matters: The new details of the call underscore how influential Musk could be in the second Trump administration, and the uncertainty over how exactly Trump will approach Ukraine. Between the lines: Trump's public messages throughout the election campaign — promising a quick resolution to the war, declining to say which side he wanted to win and criticizing the massive aid packages flowing from Washington — raised alarm bells in Kyiv and throughout Europe. The Biden administration is now looking for ways to get as much military assistance as possible to Ukraine ahead of Jan. 20, when Trump could turn off the spigot. After Zelensky congratulated Trump, the president-elect said he will support Ukraine, but didn't go into details. Flashback: Zelensky met Trump in September in New York, at which time they discussed the war with Russia and a possible diplomatic path for ending it. According to three sources with knowledge of that meeting, Trump told Zelensky he would not abandon Ukraine, but wants to give diplomacy a chance. "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." On Thursday in Budapest, Zelensky acknowledged that Trump wants to end the war quickly but stressed they did not discuss that in detail during the call. What to watch: Even though they're wary of potential peace talks, the Ukrainians see some upside in breaking with the current "negative status-quo," one source briefed on government deliberations said. Three sources with knowledge of Ukrainian government assessments said that Kyiv expects that if peace talks do take place, they will agree to participate but Putin will either reject the talks or take steps that doom them to failure. |
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