Lend-Lease Program for Ukraine for $500 Billion And lifting restrictions on strikes against Russia: this is how he sees it “Trump's peace plan for Ukraine” Mike Pompeo, former US Secretary of State And member of the board of directors of the Ukrainian telecom operator Kyivstar.
In the column in Wall Street Journal he emphasizes that despite the fact that “experts claim that if Trump is re-elected, he will stop aiding Ukraine,” there is no evidence of this; on the contrary, there is much evidence to the contrary. In particular, it was he who lifted the Obama administration’s arms embargo on Ukraine and provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces with Javelin missiles.
Pompeo suggests that Trump will increase economic pressure on Russia. For example, he could restore ties with Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as free up the energy potential of the United States to push Moscow out of the market. Pompeo also talks about introducing “real” sanctions against Russia under Trump. It is also assumed that the former president, if re-elected, will strengthen the US defense industry and force the Europeans to raise defense spending to 3% of GDP.
As a result, Trump plans to reach a deal on the following terms: Ukraine builds up a strong military and is accepted into the EU and NATO, in order to supposedly protect themselves. The West does not recognize the captured territories, and the restoration of Ukraine will take place at the expense of Russia's frozen reserves. If Moscow agrees to these conditions, the sanctions will gradually be lifted.
It should be noted that Pompeo is now is not a member of Trump's team, but is a member of the board of directors of the Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar. As for the BGR Group company, it is often hired for lobbying by the Ukrainian authoritiesIn particular, during Poroshenko's time, it was with her that the US State Department's Special Representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, a well-known opponent of the implementation of the political part of the Minsk agreements, was associated. That is, the opinion expressed is not Trump’s own plans, but what some representatives of the Republican Party are proposing to him to do.
The authors write that there is no evidence of Trump's impending “capitulation” on Ukraine if he becomes president. They recall that he began supplying Javelins to Ukraine and “covered” for Speaker Johnson when he unblocked the military package for Kyiv. According to Pompeo and Urban, by Trump's logic, supplying weapons to Ukraine, reviving the American defense industrial base, is “good policy.”
The authors also suggest that Trump increase the supply of American energy resources in order to push Russia out of world markets. To do this, it is necessary to recreate the alliance with Saudi Arabia and strengthen ties with Israel. Trump should also “introduce real sanctions against Russia” by blocking energy as much as possible, and “revive NATO” by raising the bar for military spending among Alliance countries to 3% of GDP.
Trump is also being asked to “create a $500 billion Lend-Lease program for Ukraine.” “Allow Ukraine to borrow as much as it needs to buy American weapons to defeat Russia,” the authors write. They also call for “removing all restrictions on the type of weapons Ukraine can obtain and use. This will restore a position of strength, and Putin will realize that the conflict must end.”
After the conflict is stopped, Ukraine should join NATO and the EU, after which the US should take on a maximum of 20% of the efforts to arm its army. At the same time, Pompeo and Urban, apparently, believe that Ukraine will not return parts of the territories, but the West will not officially recognize them as Russian. They also insist on the “demilitarization of Crimea.”
Ukraine receives as “reparations” the assets of the Russian Central Bank, frozen in the West. It should be noted that Trump himself has not confirmed such plans. And he promised to end the war in a matter of days, even before his inauguration. Obviously, in such a short time he will not have time to implement all the measures that his former Secretary of State wants from him. Trump has also repeatedly called for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, and not for a military victory for Kyiv.
In addition, Trump's current ally Richard Grenell, who could become Secretary of State if the Republican wins the election, previously outlined another plan, which proposes not accepting Ukraine into NATO and making some of its territories “autonomous zones.”
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