First ideas for Ukraine policy in Trump’s environment

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Lerato Khumalo

Report on multiple scenarios

This is how Trump could want to end the Ukraine war

Updated on November 7, 2024 – 11:27 p.mReading time: 2 minutes

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Zelensky met Trump in New York in September. (Source: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP/dpa/dpa-bilder)

Donald Trump announced that he would quickly end the war in Ukraine. The first plans are now said to have become public.

According to a newspaper report, various ideas for dealing with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine are circulating in the circle of US President-elect Donald Trump. Trump announced during the election campaign that he would end the war, which has been ongoing since February 2022, within 24 hours of an election victory. But he always left it open how he wanted to do it.

The Wall Street Journal now reported that one of the ideas was for Ukraine to promise not to join NATO for at least 20 years. In return, the USA would continue to supply the country with weapons.

The plan also includes a demilitarized zone along the front, it said, citing informed people. It is still unclear who should be stationed there for surveillance – but US troops will not be available for this. A member of the Trump team stated that it would have to be European troops. What plans Trump will ultimately pursue is still completely unclear.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump also has a proposal to force Ukraine to the negotiating table by the USA withholding arms deliveries.

Russia currently occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory. Outgoing President Joe Biden had promised Ukraine as much support and as long as it would take until the country could repel Russian aggression. The USA has so far been Kiev’s most important supporter and arms supplier.

The front line is relatively deadlocked, Russian troops are holding the areas they have conquered. Biden’s Democrats fear that Trump could force Ukraine to make far-reaching concessions in order to end the war as announced.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was one of the first to congratulate Trump on his election victory – and also praised a US foreign policy based on the motto “peace through strength”. He met candidate Trump in New York in September.