On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated President-elect Donald Trump on his “impressive election victory,” but behind the scenes, Ukrainian officials are really feeling “a lot of anxiety,” according to a report from Financial Times.
Trump campaigned on ending the war in Ukraine, although he never laid out a plan to reach that goal. His running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, has been more explicit, saying he favors a deal to end the war that would freeze the current battle lines and guarantee Ukrainian neutrality and independence but still allow some sort of US military assistance for Ukraine.
An unnamed Ukrainian defense official told FT that many people in the Ukrainian military are “afraid” that a Trump victory means US aid will stop and “we’ll lose Donbas at least.”
Another Ukrainian official said, “For us, [US] support means life or death. We need to convince Trump to be with us.”
Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned to continue the proxy war, although Zelensky has signaled that he expected the conflict to wind down in 2025 no matter who won. He has been pushing his so-called “victory plan,” which calls for NATO to support long-range strikes in Russia, among other escalations.
Zelensky said on Wednesday that when he spoke with Trump in September, they “discussed in detail the Ukraine-US strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
During his time in the White House, Trump escalated US involvement in Ukraine by providing Javelin anti-tank missiles, which marked the first US provision of “lethal aid” to Ukraine. Trump later briefly delayed a shipment of military aid to Ukraine, which was used by the House to impeach him over allegations he was seeking a “quid pro quo” to get Zelensky to investigate Biden’s involvement in Ukraine, a claim the Ukrainian leader has always denied.
"will lose the Donbas" Ukraine should be worried about losing the entire country. Without US support there is nothing to stop Russia and its hired help (North Korea) taking the entire country.
Other than Russia not wanting the entire country.
And what make you think that Putin will not go for the entire country?
Why would he? Other than the nonsense that the MSM feeds us about him wanting to reconstitute the USSR and conquer Europe.
Because that is what guys like him do. They always want or need more.
You are projecting on others what you would do. Americans can't be trusted, the world knows it.
With logic like that how could one argue? Do you need this, /s?
You know something, believe it or not, Putin, and the Russians keep their word, they can be trusted.
Hmmm, they have already "lost the Donbass at least" … pretty soon, they'll lose everything east and south of Dnieper … if they don't watch it.
Oh? Like they didn't see this coming when those would-be assassins were still on the loose?
"long-range strikes in Russia, among other escalations."
Long-range strikes would result in Russia's defeat, which would be the utimate de-escalation. Otherwise, Russia will continue its imperial expansion.
If Russia is defeated, they'll damn sure take Ukraine, and others, with them.
No
Who cares?
More military help from NATO, means more destruction, more deaths and more lost territories. So, Biden is better only for Zelensky and his corrupted gang. For the rest of Ukrainians, Trump is preferable.
"During his time in the White House, Trump escalated US involvement in Ukraine by providing Javelin anti-tank missiles, which parked the first US provision of “lethal aid” to Ukraine. Trump later briefly delayed a shipment of military aid to Ukraine, which was used by the House to impeach him over allegations he was seeking a “quid pro quo” to get Zelensky to investigate Biden’s involvement in Ukraine, a claim the Ukrainian leader has always denied."
Fact check: Trump didn't "provide" Javelins to Ukraine. He permitted them to be sold–but only after his advisors pointed out the sale would be profitable, and Congress threatened to impeach him if he didn't. He had in fact been withholding the shipment for a few weeks as leverage to force Zelensky to open an investigation into Biden and his son's involvement with Burisma, but Zelensky didn't take the hint. In taking credit for "providing" Ukraine with Javelins, as if it were his own idea, Trump never mentions that he stipulated they be kept in a warehouse near Lviv and not be used in the Donbas, which the Russians were busy invading and occupying. Instead, he just lies that there were no wars during his administration.
Like George HW Bush stated to a renowned journalist- "If Americans knew what we were doing, they would hang us from light poles."
I just saw this quote from Foreign Policy:
"… Western experts argue that Russia retaining its new territories could lead to a strengthened military presence near NATO’s borders, potentially igniting further conflict. "
Russia near NATO borders is a Casus Belli, but not the reverse???
These nitwits are truly clueless. No wonder our so-called political leadership sucks at foreign policy.