The 45th US president, Donald Trump, will now become the 47th when he takes office on January 20, 2025, after his 2024 election victory. Major world leaders have been calling and sending messages to congratulate the president-elect.

The first international leader to congratulate Trump early in the morning was the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, followed by Viktor Orban, President of Hungary. Joining the major leaders who have congratulated Trump was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who hopes to improve bilateral relations and increase military aid to hold off the Russian invasion.

How Trump’s victory will affect Ukraine

Biden visited Ukraine on February 23, 2023, in a clear message of support for the population. Zelensky made a surprise visit to Washington to meet with his counterpart in office and ask the US Congress for more weapons to help his country fight the Russians. It was widely viewed that strong support for Ukraine would continue under a Harris administration.

However, there has been doubts about how much support Ukraine can expect under a second Trump administration. Trump said weeks ago that if he were president again the war would end immediately, so the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could be seriously altered.

The president-elect met with Zelensky in September at Trump Tower in New York City. The two discussed a “victory plan,” the Ukrainian leader told reporters as he stood with Trump as well that he felt they had a “common view that the war has to be stopped and Putin can’t win.”

Trump at the time said of Zelensky, “we have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin,” a relationship that got him into serious trouble when he supported Russia in its alleged interference in helping to secure victory for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Ukrainian President wants to meet Trump as soon as possible, “I recall our great meeting with President Trump back in September, when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Zelensky said in his congratulatory message.

“I appreciate President Trump‘s commitment to the ’peace through strength' approach in global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer. I am hopeful that we will put it into action together.”

“We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership. We rely on continued strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States.”

“We are interested in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations. Ukraine, as one of Europe’s strongest military powers, is committed to ensuring long-term peace and security in Europe and the Transatlantic community with the support of our allies.”

“I am looking forward to personally congratulating President Trump and discussing ways to strengthen Ukraine’s strategic partnership with the United States,” he said finishing his meesage.

But with Trump, everything can change. Three weeks ago, he said that the war should never have started, and on a podcast he said, “I think Zelensky is one of the best salesmen I’ve ever seen. Every time he comes in, we give him $100 billion.”

“Who else has gotten that much money in history? There never has been. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him, because I feel terrible for those people. But he should never have let this war start. This war is a failure,” Trump said on the PBD podcast.