Don’t prejudge Trump on Ukraine, French foreign minister urges

Ukraine and its allies shouldn’t jump to conclusions about how United States President-elect Donald Trump will handle Kyiv’s conflict with Russia, France’s top diplomat said Monday.
Speaking at the Paris Peace Forum, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said it remained to be seen what Trump’s return to the White House would mean for Ukraine.
“Faced with speculation on what the position of a new American administration will be, I believe above all that we should not decide in advance,” Barrot said.
Trump has repeatedly claimed he would end the war in Ukraine in one day and has vowed to stop aid to Kyiv. He also said Ukraine should have “given up a little bit” to appease Moscow.
“Any deal, even the worst deal, would’ve been better than what we have right now,” Trump said in September.
The Republican’s victory in last week’s presidential election has raised fears in Kyiv and other European capitals that America’s commitment to Ukraine’s war effort could waver.
On Sunday evening, Trump announced the appointment of House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik as his ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik, a fierce UN critic, was also the most senior member of the Republican leadership to have voted against the latest $61 billion tranche of U.S. assistance to Ukraine when it passed the House in April.
Barrot said that French President Emmanuel Macron had spoken with Trump, and stressed that France is “ready to work with the new [U.S.] administration in an ambitious manner and with conviction” to assist Kyiv.
In a separate interview with the Le Parisien French daily on Saturday, Barrot said Trump is “too wise to agree to endorse what would be the largest territorial annexation in history in 75 years,” referring to a peace deal that would allow Moscow to hold onto the territory it has captured in eastern Ukraine.