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Afghan men watch a television broadcast of Donald Trump's victory speech at a restaurant in Kabul on November 6.
Afghan men watch a television broadcast of Donald Trump's victory speech at a restaurant in Kabul on November 6.

Trump Wins U.S. Presidency: Reactions From Our Region

Our teams bring you the latest updates, reactions, and insights into what the U.S. elections mean for our audiences. With Russia's war on Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, and a decline in democratic values, the outcome of these elections will reverberate far beyond U.S. borders.

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Taliban Wants To Open 'New Chapter' With Trump

In a carefully worded statement, Afghanistan's Taliban government has expressed hopes for a fresh start in bilateral relations with the United States under President-elect Donald Trump.

It expressed hope that "the upcoming U.S. administration will take realistic steps to foster tangible progress in the relationship between the two countries. This would allow both nations to open a new chapter of relations based on mutual engagement," Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The Taliban spokesman reminded Trump that his first administration, between 2017 and 2021, negotiated the Doha agreement with the Taliban. The February 2020 deal paved the way for the final withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

It concluded Washington's two decades of war with the Taliban in Afghanistan, but critics saw it as a prelude to the Taliban toppling the pro-Western Afghan republic in August 2021.

During his campaign, Trump had criticized the Biden administration for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He lamented the loss of the strategic Baghram airbase near Kabul and leaving behind billions of dollars in military equipment to the Taliban.

-- Abubakar Siddique

And that's all from our live-blog coverage of reactions across our region to the election of Donald Trump to a second term as U.S. president.

Continue to follow us for expert analysis and all the news you need to understand what his victory means for Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, and beyond. Click here to learn more about where we operate.

Video: Ukrainians In Embattled Regions React To Trump Election Victory

Residents of the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk reacted to the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. "Trump promised to help bring peace to Ukraine," one local told RFE/RL. "We want to believe him." Located just 6 kilometers from the front line, Pokrovsk has been targeted by Russia as its forces continue to advance on the key logistical city. In nearby Chasiv Yar, Russian forces have pounded the area with drone strikes as Moscow tries to seize more land in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Ukrainians In Embattled Regions React To Trump Election Victory (Video)
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U.S. Expands Sanctions On Dodik's Network As He Celebrates Trump's Victory

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on November 6 designated one individual and one entity who support a "corrupt patronage network" in Bosnia-Herzegovina that is attempting to evade U.S. sanctions.

This network is directly linked to Igor Dodik, the son of Milorad Dodik, the president of the Republika Srpska, one of two entities that make up Bosnia. Both have been designated for U.S. sanctions. For years, Dodik has used his official position to accumulate personal wealth through companies linked to himself and his son. This corruption has contributed to an undermining of public confidence in Bosnian state institutions and the rule of law.

"RS President Milorad Dodik, his associates, and his enablers continue to use their privileged position to erode public confidence in the regional peace frameworks and institutions that have brought stability and security to Bosnia and Herzegovina," acting Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said. "The United States remains committed to exposing the efforts of Dodik and his family to maintain their corrupt patronage networks."

Within the last hour, Dodik projected this on his office in Banja Luka:

"Republika Srpska congratulates," the text says.

Adi Cerimagic, senior analyst at the European Stability Initiative in Berlin, explains why Dodik might celebrate Trump's victory.

-- Ajla Obradovic

Oleksandr Samarskiy, Ukrainian diplomat and now an analyst with the Center for the Study of Russia, in an interview with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:

"Trump must not be demonized. We must understand that Trump is a new window of opportunity. Ukraine is known for the fact that it 'cannot lose an opportunity not to use an opportunity.' What we got from Biden was bloodletting without treatment. Biden's bet was made so that Russia neither won nor lost this war, and it cost us thousands and thousands of lives. Trump's policy is sharp and unpredictable, but this is not a deep view. Unlike Biden, Trump is a pragmatist. Biden could be guided by illusions (Russia must be separated from China, Russia must not be offended, Russia can strike with nuclear weapons...). This will not happen with Trump. Trump is a pragmatist, and supporting Ukraine is in the interests of the United States, as many Republicans have consistently stated. It is not in the interests of the USA to lose Ukraine."

-- Rostyslav Khotin

A 'No Congrats' Update: The Icebreaker

Talk about having it both ways, this just in: Hours after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not congratulate Donald Trump on his election victory, the Russian-language media outlet Vyorstka reports that Putin has sent his congratulations -- indirectly.

The report, which has not been confirmed, cited an unnamed source in the Russian legislature as saying Putin and other senior Russian figures had sent congratulations "through acquaintances." It cited someone "close to the Kremlin," also unnamed, as saying the congratulations were conveyed "via Russian Foreign Ministry channels."

Meanwhile, Peskov made another effort to indicate that Putin and Russia don't really care who won the U.S. election -- though the effect may be the opposite for observers of Russia. He noted that Putin had participated remotely in the launch of an atomic-powered icebreaker and said, "For us, this is more important."

Russia and the United States are rivals in the Arctic.

-- Steve Gutterman

Iranian Rial Hits Historic Low Following U.S. Election Results

Over the past week, the Iranian government repeatedly downplayed the impact of the U.S. election on the country's internal affairs. However, this afternoon, shortly after the election results were announced, Iran's currency plunged to its lowest value in history.

The rial traded at 703,000 to the U.S. dollar before recovering slightly.

This sharp decline comes despite significant growth in Iran's oil exports under the Biden administration over the past four years, with exports reportedly increasing fivefold and oil revenues seeing a major boost.

The exact cause of the drastic currency drop remains unclear, though Iran's central bank has previously attempted to stabilize the exchange rate by injecting more hard currency into the market.

-- Parisa Sohbati

Pakistan's Relations With Washington Unlikely To Change Under Trump

Pakistani leaders quickly congratulated Donald Trump on his election to a second term as U.S. president.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was looking "forward to working closely with the incoming Administration to further strengthen and broaden the Pakistan-U.S. partnership."

His coalition partner, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, leader of the Pakistan People's Party, hoped that the future Trump administration "will prioritize peace and help end the cycle of perpetual global conflict."

For months, supporters of jailed former populist Prime Minister Imran Khan had rooted for a Trump victory in the hope that his reelection would alleviate Khan's suffering.

However, Trump did not say or post about Khan during his campaign.

Project 2025 -- an initiative conceived by the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington that many predict Trump will use as a policy template -- says that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has "provided an opportunity to reset the deeply troubled U.S.–Pakistan relationship" but warns that "U.S. policy must be clear-eyed and realistic about the perfidiousness" of "the military-political rule in Pakistan."

Pundits in Washington, however, do not see Pakistan figuring prominently on Trump's agenda for now.

– Abubakar Siddique

Taliban Wants To Open 'New Chapter' With Trump

In a carefully worded statement, Afghanistan's Taliban government has expressed hopes for a fresh start in bilateral relations with the United States under President-elect Donald Trump.

It expressed hope that "the upcoming U.S. administration will take realistic steps to foster tangible progress in the relationship between the two countries. This would allow both nations to open a new chapter of relations based on mutual engagement," Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The Taliban spokesman reminded Trump that his first administration, between 2017 and 2021, negotiated the Doha agreement with the Taliban. The February 2020 deal paved the way for the final withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

It concluded Washington's two decades of war with the Taliban in Afghanistan, but critics saw it as a prelude to the Taliban toppling the pro-Western Afghan republic in August 2021.

During his campaign, Trump had criticized the Biden administration for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He lamented the loss of the strategic Baghram airbase near Kabul and leaving behind billions of dollars in military equipment to the Taliban.

-- Abubakar Siddique

Taiwan Cautiously Watches Whether U.S. Support For Ukraine Will Shift Under Trump

By Reid Standish

Following President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House, one of the key foreign policy questions for his incoming administration is how it will affect U.S. backing for Kyiv in its war with Russia.

How things play out for Ukraine is also being closely watched in Taiwan, a self-governing island of 23 million that China views as its own territory and has vowed to unify with the mainland by peace or by force.

Trump has criticized the level of U.S. support for Ukraine's war effort and promised to end the conflict, even before his inauguration in January. After Trump's reelection, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy heaped praise on the president-elect as uncertainty over U.S. backing looms over Kyiv.

This hasn't been lost on top Taiwanese officials, as it could be something of a bellwether for Taipei as Beijing is expected to step up pressure.

"No matter who is elected, we have to let them understand that Taiwan has the determination to defend itself, and the importance of Taiwan's economic security and strategic geopolitical position," Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo said before Trump was declared winner.

Since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Taiwan has looked to tie Kyiv and Taipei's fates together. Top Taiwanese officials have also advocated publicly for continued U.S. military support for Ukraine as some U.S. commentators and Congressional Republicans have called for scaling it back, arguing that it detracts from being able to arm Taiwan, which they view as a more urgent task.

"That's why we're asking everybody to support Ukraine. It's the best way to deter China," Roy Chun Lee, Taiwan’s former deputy foreign minister and current envoy to the EU, told RFE/RL in a 2023 interview.

Speaking ahead of the November 5 U.S. election, Taiwanese officials said they were preparing for either outcome, with Taiwanese Economy Minister J.W. Kuo acknowledging to reporters that Trump could introduce measures that might prove harmful for Taiwan's semiconductor industry, which currently produces more than 90 percent of the world's high-performance microchips.

In recent months, Trump has suggested that he thinks Taiwan isn't giving the United States enough in exchange for U.S. defense support and that it has taken away U.S. semiconductor manufacturing business.

But what a better deal for Trump might look like isn't clear.

In an interview with The Washington Post in September, he said that Beijing wouldn't attack Taiwan "while I'm president...but eventually they will." In a similar sit down with The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board in October, Trump said that he would impose tariffs on China if it sought to blockade Taiwan.

He added that he wants Taiwan's leaders to step up their defense investments, which currently sit at around 2.6 percent of the island's gross domestic product.

"They should spend 10 [percent]," Trump said.

Far-right columnist Zsolt Bayer of the pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet tells the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, to "go home":

Background: Pressman has been the target of attacks by the Hungarian government and the pro-government media due to his criticism of the government in Budapest over its anti-American messaging, anti-LGBT measures, and pressure on free media and civil society.

Bayer writes: "Pressman perfectly represented and symbolized everything that deep state, cancel culture, woke, LGBTQ and all the other insanities mean. That is why he was sent here. Right here in Hungary, one of the last little islands of normality. Sent here, sent here by the Democrat administration, the deep state...to make us feel cared for. He arrived and did his job. Never before has the deep state's interference in the internal affairs of our country been so obvious, so impertinent, so intrusive, so intolerable."

-- Gabriella Horn

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