Ukraine MP: “Very worried” about Trump’s praise for Putin

President-Elect Donald Trump’s promise to work closer with Vladimir Putin has startled some Ukrainian officials, who now have to persuade the incoming administration it’s worth pressuring the Russian government over the annexation of Crimea.

Speaking at a press conference at the United Nations on Monday, Mustafa Dzemilev, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, said he was “surprised” by some of the statements Trump made during the campaign, specifically that the people of Crimea would rather be part of Russia. Dzemilev is a native of Crimea.

“Besides his claims about the referendum and that he can come to terms with Mr. Putin that made us very worried we have to say that the population of Crimea and Ukraine was more on the Hillary side,” he said through an interpreter.

However, Dzemilev noted that in principle he’s not unhappy that a Republican will be taking over the White House.

“We were waiting for Republicans to come into office because usually they take a harder stance on Ukrainian issues,” he said. Last year, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain called for the Obama administration to send more weapons to the Ukrainian military.

A few hours earlier on Monday, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said he had “no doubt” that President-Elect Trump would refuse to recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea. Dzemilev also expressed some optimism that the President-Elect would be brought up to speed by the time

“Now we are waiting that by the time he comes into office he will be well-informed and we will take it from there,” he said.

Dzemilev also pointed to President Ronald Reagan’s ascent to the presidency, a not uncommon refrain from foreign officials trying to find the silver lining in a Trump administration.

“When Reagan came to power we all didn’t know what to expect from an artist but he came to be one of the strongest presidents of the United States of America,” he said.

It’s worth noting that prior to becoming the president of the United States, Reagan was the governor of California, the largest state in the country, for eight years.