President Trump doesn't think it's appropriate for him to visit Ukraine as a presidential candidate
ExpandingWritten by Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he doesn't think it's appropriate to visit Ukraine at this time because he's no longer in office, he said at the request of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The campaign announced Wednesday.
In an interview with Axel Springer Media published on Tuesday, Zelenskiy told President Trump that he would visit the country to hear the former US president's thoughts on ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022. I requested that.
The Trump campaign said Wednesday that Zelensky had no formal contact with the former president.
“Mr. Zelenskiy has not approached him and President Trump has publicly stated that it would not be appropriate for him to go to Ukraine right now because he is not commander in chief,” the Trump campaign said in an email.
U.S. presidential candidates often travel abroad to hone their foreign policy credentials.
Former Republican candidates who have now dropped out, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, have visited Ukraine while campaigning for the Republican nomination. During his first presidential campaign in 2016, Trump visited Mexico and met with then-President Enrique Peña Nieto.
President Trump and hardline Republicans in Congress oppose any further aid to Ukraine other than loans.
He won the Republican nomination in March and will face Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 presidential election.
Trump, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has criticized the U.S. government's support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and said he could end the war within 24 hours if elected president. said.
President Trump told Reuters in an interview last June that Kiev's government may have to concede some territory to Russia to stop the war. If he becomes president, he said, everything will be negotiable.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that President Trump privately said he could end the war by pressuring Ukraine to cede border areas of Crimea and Donbas to Russia.
In comments on Tuesday, Zelenskiy said he was open to accepting Trump's proposal, but also expressed skepticism.
“If it's an agreement to just give up territory and that's the idea behind it, it's a very primitive idea,” he said.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin and Jonathan Oatis)
