Donald Trump said repeatedly during his campaign to return to the United States presidency that he could quickly negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. There is now concern in Ukraine and among its allies that once Trump is inaugurated next January, the US will back away from supporting the effort to undo the Russian invasion.
Officials in countries on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) especially worry that if Ukraine is weakened to the point of having to agree to surrender land, it will embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders with territorial ambitions.
What has Trump said about the war in Ukraine?
In a September presidential debate, Trump sidestepped a question about whether he wanted Ukraine to succeed in its effort to expel the invading Russians.
Instead, he said repeatedly during the campaign that the fighting should stop and that he could end the war “in a day” through a settlement.
His vice-presidential running mate, JD Vance, said in an interview in September that a deal would “probably” entail Russia retaining the land it has seized in Ukraine and Ukraine agreeing to renounce its goal of joining NATO.
Such a vision for the war’s end is far from that of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has said his country could not accept a frozen conflict or trading territory for peace.
Trump has complained about the scale of US support to Ukraine without explicitly threatening to cut it off. But there are concerns that he will use the assistance as leverage in an effort to get Ukraine to make concessions to Russia to end the war.
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