President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk reportedly spoke over the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
Trump and Musk have become close allies in recent months; the business tycoon campaigned on Trump’s behalf ahead of the election and has been promised a high-level spot in the next administration. Trump called Zelenskyy on Wednesday and spoke about the U.S.’ future support of Ukraine, according to multiple reports.
Zelenskyy reportedly congratulated Trump on his election win on Tuesday, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Axios. Trump told Zelenskyy he would continue U.S. support for Ukraine.
Trump noted that he wanted to strive from a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine war, sources told Axios. Other topics, such as future U.S. aid to Ukraine or how Trump plans to end the war, were left unspoken.
Musk was at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida at the time. At some point during the call, Musk walked into the room where Trump was speaking to Zelenskyy and greeted Zelenskyy, sources told The Wall Street Journal. Zelenskyy said hello back.
Zelenskyy quipped to Musk that he was using Starlink to make the call, sources told the WSJ. Musk told Zelenskyy he’d ensure that his company, Starlink, would continue providing support for Ukraine, according to multiple reports. He also said he’d sent more Starlink units to Ukraine.
Starlink has a satellite network across the globe that can provide internet access in even the most remote locations.
Interestingly enough, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was also with Musk and Trump and spoke to Zelenskyy on the call, sources told Axios, although it isn’t clear what he said. The three were dining at Mar-a-Lago at the time.
Zelenskyy apparently left the call feeling content, three sources told Axios. It “didn’t leave Zelenskyy with a feeling of despair,” one source said. He also reportedly felt it was a good sign that Trump called him so soon after the election.
“Nothing of what Zelenskyy 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,” a source familiar with the matter told Axios.
That said, there’s been some concern inside Kyiv that Trump’s theory of victory might differ from Ukraine’s. In a speech in Budapest on Thursday, Zelenskyy touted the positive call with Trump but noted that he “cannot yet know what [Trump’s] actions will be.”
“If it’s just fast, it means losses for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said, referring to Trump’s vow to have the war ended in short order. “I just don’t yet understand how this could be in any other way. Maybe we do not know something, do not see.”
Trump has promised to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to a close by the time he takes office in January, and though he has offered few specifics, regularly cites his relationship with both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin — and his ability to bring both to the negotiating table.
“We both want to see this end, and we both want to see a fair deal made,” Trump told reporters alongside Zelenskyy at a press conference in September. “It should stop and the president (Zelenskyy) wants it to stop, and I’m sure President Putin wants it to stop and that’s a good combination.”
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