Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to help California battle its devastating wildfires, offering to send 150 Ukrainian firefighters to aid the ravaged state.
“Today, I instructed Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs and our diplomats to prepare for the possible participation of our rescuers in combating the wildfires in California,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
“The situation there is extremely difficult, and Ukrainians can help Americans save lives. This is currently being coordinated, and we have offered our assistance to the American side through the relevant channels,” he added. “150 of our firefighters are already prepared.”
At least 24 people have been killed and entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles reduced to ash as California faces what its governor, Gavin Newsom, said could be the worst natural disaster in United States history.
Zelenskyy’s offer came after Donald Trump Jr., eldest son and adviser of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, took a swipe last week at Ukraine over the fires.
“Oh look of course the LA fire department donated a bunch of their supplies to Ukraine,” Trump Jr. wrote on social media, sharing an article from 2022 about the Los Angeles County Fire Department donating surplus supplies like boots, hoses, nozzles, body armor and medication to Ukraine.
The comment was the Trump camp’s latest dig at Kyiv, with the president-elect repeatedly threatening to pull American aid for Ukraine and deriding President Zelenskyy as “the greatest salesman in history.”
A war of words has also erupted between Republicans and top Democrats in solidly blue state California over the catastrophic fires, with Trump referring to Newsom as “Newscum” — a nickname the president-elect had used for the governor before the fire — accusing him of “incompetence” in handling the disaster.
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