On April 18, former US President Donald Trump stated that Ukraine’s survival was important to the United States and criticized European allies for insufficient support for Kiev. In this way, Trump expressed for the first time the need to strengthen support for Ukraine, although he did not support the bill granting the country $61 billion, which is soon to be considered by the House of Representatives.
However, yesterday, the US presidential candidate from the Republican Party, Donald Trump, spoke again about Ukraine. Donald Trump stated that if he is re-elected in the next elections, he will call on Europe to spend more money on helping Ukraine. He said he would not transfer funds until US and EU spending were equal. Trump believes that Europe should start settling its accounts.
“If they’re not going to pay, why should we?” said the former US president.
He believes that the war had a much greater impact on Europe than on the United States. According to Trump, they suffered much more because there is an ocean between the US and Ukraine.
The Time article noted that since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war, the United States under Biden’s leadership has provided more than $100 billion in aid to Ukraine. The EU countries allocated the same amount for state support.
It was noted that Trump’s statement came a day after he met with Polish President Andrzej Duda in New York’s Trump Tower and praised Poland. The former president and the Polish leader discussed Duda’s proposal that NATO members should spend at least 3% of their GDP on defense, rather than 2% as the rules currently stipulate.
Earlier, the media reported that Donald Trump criticized Ukraine as a “corrupt” country during talks with European officials, called it “your Ukraine” and “part of Russia”, and complained about its support from the United States.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Donald Trump “will not donate a penny to the Ukrainian-Russian war” if he wins the presidential election in the United States.
Moreover, Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine is to force Ukraine to cede its territories to the aggressor. People close to the former US president told us about this.
Some former Trump aides are also convinced: After the 2019 impeachment story, the former president has an ongoing negative attitude towards Ukraine – which he accuses of “interfering” in the 2016 election to benefit Democrats and “appeasing” his opponent, Joe Biden.
If for Biden support for Ukraine (even if there are justified questions) is a matter of values, his own foreign policy heritage, and even personal sentiment, Trump is guided by completely different – political arguments – and it cannot be dismissed, he still considers Ukraine to be the cause of his problems with impeachment in 2019.
Ukraine, which is literally fighting for its own existence, would prefer to avoid such a transactional approach in relations with its main security ally. But it is not worth rejecting the possibility of such a scenario and preparing for it.
The argument that there is a sea between the US and Russia, so Russia cannot harm the US, is inadequate and simplistic. Modern threats to national security include not only direct military action, but also cyberattacks, political espionage, the use of drones, and even the possibility of nuclear weapons that can cross the ocean.
In today’s world, international conflicts can arise in a variety of ways that are not necessarily limited by geographic boundaries. Cybersecurity has become one of the biggest threats, and Russia, which has a developed cyberwar infrastructure, could inflict significant damage to the US through cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, businesses or government institutions.
Political espionage also poses a serious threat because Russian agents could interfere in U.S. political processes, causing disinformation or distorting elections and political decisions.
Moreover, the development of military technologies such as drones allows countries, even with great geographical distances, to launch attacks directly on enemy territory. This creates the opportunity for Russia to launch attacks on the US without direct military involvement across the ocean.
Finally, there is the threat of nuclear weapons that can cross the ocean and cause irreversible consequences. The United States should know this better than anyone.
Karyna Koshel
