He Donald Trump’s return to the White House It opens a new scenario and raises questions about whether or not US military, financial and diplomatic support for Ukraine will be maintained, based on the vision of the former US president expressed in his own words.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly questioned the volume of the Washington’s aid to Ukraine and stated that Europe should take most of the responsibility in supporting kyiv.
One of his most recurrent statements has been that “would end the war in Ukraine in a single day”, without offering more details of his eventual plan.
Trump has also highlighted his closeness to the Russian president Vladimir Putin, even praising him, according to reports cnn, Euronewyes, The Kyiv Independent and The Associated Press.
Since it began large scale russian invasion in February 2022, American support has been key for Ukraine. The US Congress allocated more than $174 billion to kyiv, according to data from the Government Accountability Office, published by Reuters.
In this context, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported that under the outgoing Joe Biden administration, the United States “has committed more than $56 billion to Ukraine in security assistance alone.”
What Trump said about NATO
During his recent speech, Trump reiterated his criticism of NATOespecially in terms of defense spending by member countries. The president-elect who will occupy the White House for the next four years has pointed out that the United States contributes too much to the budget, while the members of the European Union allocate very little.
In February, during a rally in Conway, South Carolina, Trump suggested that if re-elected, he would not protect NATO members that do not meet defense spending requirements.
The Republican leader also recalled an alleged conversation with the leader of a NATO member country, who asked him what would happen if they did not pay their debts and were attacked by Russia.
“No, I wouldn’t protect them,” Trump said then, citing his own response to the European leader. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever they want. They have to pay. “They have to pay their bills,” he added.
Trump: Zelenskyy is “the best salesman of all time”
Earlier this year, when the additional aid package to Ukraine stalled amid debates in the US CongressTrump objected, arguing that the United States should “stop giving money without expecting to be repaid.”
At a campaign event in Detroit last June, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “the greatest salesman of all time.”
“He left four days ago with 60 billion dollars, and when he gets home he announces that he needs another 60 billion. It never ends,” Trump indicated.
The end of the war, a Trump priority
In it presidential debate broadcast on ABC News On September 10 in Philadelphia, several of his views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine emerged.
Trump avoided answering clearly whether he wanted Ukraine to win. Instead, he commented: “I want the war to stop” and urged an agreement between the countries to be negotiated.
He also commented that Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if he were president, as well as his ability to end the war in one day and bring kyiv to the negotiating table.
“What I’ll do is talk to one, I’ll talk to the other, I’ll bring them together,” Trump said during the debate without offering details. “That war would never have happened (if I had been in office).”
In none of his narratives about ending the war has Trump explained how he plans to do so. According to experts, this could happen if cut off American aid to pressure Ukraine in possible peace negotiations.
Analysts have said they see an inclination in his public discourse toward ceding Ukrainian territory or making concessions to Russia since the beginning of the invasion, as evidenced in a campaign event in September.
“Any deal — the worst deal — would have been better than what we have now,” Trump suggested. “If they had made a bad deal it would have been much better. “They would have given in a little bit and everyone would be living and all the buildings would be built and all the towers would be aging for another 2,000 years.”
In late September, Zelenskyy visited the United States to attend the UN General Assembly and meet with American officials. On this occasion he held separate conversations with both candidates.
Trump and Zelenskyy’s meeting took place at Trump Tower in New York. The now president-elect reiterated that he would quickly end the conflict if he became the new tenant of the White House. Furthermore, he claimed that he could negotiate an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin without Ukraine having to capitulate.
According to reportsBefore the meeting, Trump indicated that he has a good relationship with the Ukrainian president, but also with his Russian rival.
“I have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin (…) And if we win, I think we will resolve it very quickly,” he added.
However, earlier that week during a campaign rally in North Carolina he strongly criticized Zelenskyy, stating: “We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal.”
In his appearance in PBD podcast with Patrick Bet-David on October 17, Trump’s comments about Zelenskyy They indicated possible radical changes in US policy towards Ukraine, in the event of his return to the presidency.
Trump suggested that the Ukrainian president is not only guilty of failing to end the war, but also of having helped start it, even though the conflict erupted after the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him, because I feel very bad for those people. But I should never have let that war start,” he said.
The scene after the victory
After Trump’s election as president, the spokesman for the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov referred to the United States as a hostile state. In addition, he told the press that only time would tell if Trump’s rhetoric about ending the war in Ukraine translated into concrete actions.
For his part, the Russian president, Vladimir Putinexpressed that what Trump said in his campaign about the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis deserved attention, and if he sought to resume contacts, Russia I was willing to discuss it.
As the Ukrainian president stated after the US elections, he was not aware of the details of Trump’s plan to quickly end the war in Ukraine, and was convinced that a hasty end would imply important concessions for kyiv.
A senior advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with BBC that the new government’s priority for Ukraine would be to achieve peace and not restore the territory lost, including Crimea.
According to what was said by Bryan Lanzaa longtime Republican Party strategist, the Trump Administration would ask the Ukrainian president for a “realistic vision for peace.”
After the election, Zelenskyy and Trump had a telephone conversation, which was joined by tycoon Elon Musk. It is not clear if they discussed any changes in US policy towards Ukraine, several media outlets reported.
“We cannot say if it fully coincides with what they said during the campaign, but… what is declared during the elections does not always correspond to what will be implemented after them,” he told POLITICAL Dmytro Razumkov, Ukrainian independent MP and head of Zelenskyy’s 2019 presidential campaign.
Reports consultedraise the fear of many Ukrainians towards a quick peace agreement that “benefits Russia, leaving approximately a fifth of their country under Moscow’s control and allowing Putin to use the cessation of hostilities as an opportunity to build up his forces to a future attack.”
According to the news agency Reutersthe pace of aid will almost certainly slow under Trump, since Republicans managed to overturn the Democratic majority after the November 5 elections and now control the US Senate with 52 seats out of 100.
The House of Representatives It also came under the control of the Republican Partywhich reached the 218 seats necessary to secure the advantage, thus ensuring influence in Congress and the White House, which would boost Trump’s vision for the next four years.
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