Hope and pragmatism compete on Ukraine’s front amid Trump’s election

KYIV, Ukraine — Soldiers in a Ukrainian artillery battery on the front lines of the country’s east were only vaguely aware of American election results pointing to Donald Trump’s victory Wednesday — but firm in their hopes for the next president of the United States.

Their entrenched artillery battery fires on Russian forces daily — and takes fire nearly as often. Just the other day, one of their overhead nets snared a Russian drone.

“I hope that the quantity of weapons, the quantity of guns for our victory will increase,” the unit’s 39-year-old commander, who goes by the name Mozart, said in the hours before Trump’s win was confirmed . “We don’t care who is the president, as long as they don’t cut us off from help, because we need it.”

Though Trump’s election throws into doubt American support for Ukraine — and ultimately whether Kyiv can beat back Russia’s invasion — the soldiers who use their Starlink connection to the internet sparingly learned of the results from Associated Press journalists.

Mozart — who like other soldiers Wednesday did not give his name in keeping with Ukrainian military protocol and has given musical monikers to the battlefield positions — is among many Ukrainians who hope that Trump will hold the line on American support for their country. Russian forces have recently made gains in the east, although the commander described the front-line situation as “static.”

It was under Trump that the United States first sent weapons to Ukraine in its fight against Russia in 2017. Those Javelin anti-tank missiles were crucial to Ukraine’s ability to fend off the full-scale invasion in 2022. But Trump overall is wary of U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts.

Trump, who has touted his good relationship with President Vladimir Putin and called the Russian leader “pretty smart” for invading Ukraine, has repeatedly criticized American backing of Ukraine. He characterized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “the greatest salesman on Earth” for winning U.S. aid.

Zelenskyy was among the first world leaders to publicly congratulate Trump and said the two discussed how to end “Russian aggression against Ukraine” when they met in September .

“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,” he wrote on the social platform X.

Donald Trump, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands during their Sept. 27 meeting in New York. Zelenskyy was among the first world leaders to publicly congratulate Trump on Wednesday. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

Trump has said repeatedly he would have a peace deal done between Ukraine and Russia within a day if elected, although he has not said how. During his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he twice refused to directly answer a question about whether he wanted Ukraine to win — raising concerns that Kyiv would be forced to accept unfavorable terms in any negotiations he oversaw.

In Kyiv, which comes under attack from Russian drones near daily, 18-year-old Viktoriia Zubrytska was pragmatic about her expectations for the next American president. She thinks Ukraine will be forced to give up territory in exchange for peace under a Trump presidency. But she said she preferred that to what she called the false hope that the Biden administration offered.

“We will live in a world of facts where we will be certain on what awaits us,” said the law student. “Certainty and objective truth is much better than lies and life in illusions.”

According to VoteCast, 74% of voters who supported Harris favored continuing aid to Ukraine, while only 36% of Trump’s voters did. AP VoteCast is a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago.

On the front lines in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region, Andriy, who goes by “Rodych” or “Relative,” was resigned to the fact that he has no power to influence the American vote.

“We will come up with something" whatever happens, he said.

“We are a shield between Europe and Russia,” he added. “Other countries do not understand what is happening here, they see it on TV and for them it is far away.”

America’s NATO allies were also closely watching the election. France and Germany arranged a last-minute, top-level defense meeting Wednesday in Paris to discuss the results, and Ukraine is likely to be central to the meeting. The two leading powers in the European Union provide significant support to Ukraine to defend it against Russia’s war.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, citing a “more aggressive Russia,” also invoked Trump's motto of “peace through strength.”

Rutte praised Trump for his work during his first term to persuade countries in the alliance to ramp up defense spending.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no information on whether Putin plans to congratulate Trump but emphasized that Moscow views the U.S. as an “unfriendly” country.

Peskov reaffirmed the Kremlin’s claim that the U.S. support for Ukraine amounted to its involvement in the conflict, telling reporters: “Let’s not forget that we are talking about, the unfriendly country that is both directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state.”

Still, he noted Trump's promise to end the war swiftly once elected.

“The U.S. can help end the conflict,” Peskov said, adding that “it certainly can’t be done overnight."

Konovalov reported from the Kharkiv region. Associated Press journalists Lorne Cook in Brussels; Hanna Arhirova, Illia Novikov and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine; Danica Kirka in London; and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

乌克兰基辅——周三，驻扎在乌克兰东部前线的一个乌克兰炮兵连的士兵们对指向唐纳德·特朗普获胜的美国大选结果只有模糊的了解，但他们对下一任美国总统抱有坚定的希望。

他们的防御工事炮兵阵地每天都向俄军开火——也几乎同样频繁地遭到俄军攻击。就在前几天，他们的一张防空网就捕获了一架俄罗斯无人机。

“我希望用于我们胜利的武器数量，枪支数量能够增加，”这支部队39岁的指挥官莫扎特在特朗普胜选确认前的几个小时说道。“我们不在乎谁是总统，只要他们不切断我们的援助，因为我们需要这些援助。”

尽管特朗普当选让美国对乌克兰的支持蒙上了阴影——最终也让基辅能否击退俄罗斯的入侵成疑——但那些使用星链网络连接互联网的士兵们却很少从美联社记者那里得知选举结果。

莫扎特——像其他士兵一样，他周三没有透露姓名，这符合乌克兰军方的规定，他还给战场上的阵地起了音乐上的绰号——和许多乌克兰人一样，希望特朗普能够坚持美国对乌克兰的支持。尽管俄军最近在东部取得了一些进展，但指挥官称前线局势“停滞不前”。

正是在特朗普执政期间，美国于2017年首次向乌克兰提供武器，以支持其对抗俄罗斯的战争。这些标枪反坦克导弹对于乌克兰抵御2022年全面入侵至关重要。但总体而言，特朗普对美国卷入海外冲突持谨慎态度。

特朗普曾吹嘘自己与俄罗斯总统普京关系良好，并称普京入侵乌克兰“相当聪明”，但他却屡次批评美国对乌克兰的支持。他还称赞乌克兰总统泽连斯基是“地球上最伟大的推销员”，因为他成功争取到了美国的援助。

泽连斯基是最早公开祝贺特朗普的世界领导人之一，并表示两人在9月份会面时讨论了如何结束“俄罗斯对乌克兰的侵略”。

“我赞赏特朗普总统在国际事务中坚持‘以实力求和平’的方针。这正是能够切实加快乌克兰实现公正和平进程的原则。我希望我们能够共同将其付诸实践。”他在社交平台X上写道。

9月27日，唐纳德·特朗普（右）与乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基在纽约会晤时握手。泽连斯基是周三首批公开祝贺特朗普的世界领导人之一。（朱莉娅·德马雷·尼金森/美联社）

特朗普曾多次表示，如果当选，他将在一天之内促成乌克兰和俄罗斯之间的和平协议，但他并未说明具体方法。在与副总统卡马拉·哈里斯的辩论中，他两次拒绝直接回答是否希望乌克兰获胜的问题——这引发了人们的担忧，即基辅在他主导的任何谈判中都将被迫接受不利条款。

在几乎每天都遭受俄罗斯无人机袭击的基辅，18岁的维多利亚·祖布里茨卡对下一任美国总统抱有务实的态度。她认为，如果特朗普当选总统，乌克兰将被迫割让领土以换取和平。但她表示，她宁愿接受这样的结果，也不愿接受拜登政府所谓的虚假希望。

“我们将生活在一个事实的世界里，对未来充满确定感，”这位法学生说。“确定性和客观真相远胜于谎言和虚幻的生活。”

根据VoteCast的调查结果，在支持哈里斯的选民中，74%的人赞成继续向乌克兰提供援助，而支持特朗普的选民中只有36%的人持相同观点。VoteCast是由芝加哥大学NORC民意研究中心开展的美国选民调查。

在乌克兰东部哈尔科夫地区的前线，安德烈（绰号“罗迪奇”，意为“亲戚”）已经接受了自己无力影响美国大选的事实。

他说：“无论发生什么，我们都会想办法的。”

他补充说：“我们是欧洲和俄罗斯之间的一道屏障。其他国家不了解这里正在发生的事情，他们只是在电视上看到，对他们来说，这离得很远。”

美国的北约盟国也在密切关注此次选举。法国和德国周三在巴黎紧急安排了一次高级别防务会议，讨论选举结果，乌克兰问题很可能成为会议的焦点。作为欧盟两大强国，法国和德国为乌克兰抵御俄罗斯的战争提供了重要支持。

北约秘书长马克·吕特援引“更具侵略性的俄罗斯”的言论，还援引了特朗普“以实力求和平”的座右铭。

吕特赞扬特朗普在其第一个任期内为说服北约国家增加国防开支所做的工作。

莫斯科方面，克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫表示，他不知道普京是否计划祝贺特朗普，但他强调，莫斯科视美国为“不友好”国家。

佩斯科夫重申了克里姆林宫的说法，即美国对乌克兰的支持等同于其介入冲突，他对记者说：“我们不要忘记，我们谈论的是一个不友好的国家，它直接或间接地卷入了针对我们国家的战争。”

不过，他注意到特朗普承诺一旦当选就会迅速结束战争。

佩斯科夫说：“美国可以帮助结束这场冲突”，但他补充说，“这当然不可能在一夜之间完成”。

科诺瓦洛夫从哈尔科夫地区发回报道。美联社记者洛恩·库克（布鲁塞尔）、汉娜·阿尔希罗娃、伊利亚·诺维科夫和弗拉基米尔·尤尔丘克（乌克兰基辅）、达尼卡·基尔卡（伦敦）以及达莎·利特维诺娃（爱沙尼亚塔林）也对本报道做出了贡献。