From Trump to Xi Jinping to Putin, very expansionist presidential wishes across the world

Traditional Russian dolls with the image of Xi Jinpin, Trump and Putin. MAXPPP

Faced with imperialist ambitions, Ukraine, Taiwan and Canada have a lot to do.

In his New Year's greetings to the Ukrainian nation, President Volodymyr Zelensky urged to fight “both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table“: “Let 2025 be our year. The year of Ukraine. We know that peace will not be given to us as a gift, but we will do everything to stop Russia and end the war“… A wish that is all the more fragile since Donald Trump's accession to power in the United States risks cutting Ukraine off from financial and diplomatic support.

Vladimir Putin, for his part, did not allude to the conflict with Ukraine in his New Year's greetings, but praised the results of his 25 years at the head of Russia: “We can be proud of what has been accomplished, it is our common good for future development“.

“Non-confrontation”

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said, without a hint of irony, that his country and Russia are moving “hand in hand on the just path of non-alignment and non-confrontation“. But in his New Year's greetings, he also said that no one can stop the “historical trend” of China's “reunification” with Taiwan. China, which considers Taiwan as its own territory, has intensified its presence and military exercises near the island state in 2024.

These expansionist ambitions echo those of Donald Trump who, during his Christmas wishes, insisted on the fact that he considered Panama, Canada and Greenland as American states.