Last fall Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a meeting that went better than expected; their recent post-election phone call was also good (which happened right after Trumps win on nov 5th)
The current White-house team under Joe Biden made lots of mistakes: they gave weapons too slow didnt give enough help and put weird limits on what Ukraine could do with them. While Kamala Harris wouldʼve likely kept this same not-so-good approach many Ukrainians think its worth trying something new
Looking at Trumps past choices - like how he dealt with Iran - shows he doesnt rush into big decisions. It took him about 16 months to leave the Iran deal: first he checked it in oct 2017‚ then finally left in may 2018. Plus Russiaʼs new friends (North-Korea Iran and China) might make Trump less friendly to Vladimir Putin than before
Here are key reasons why Ukraine matters to US interests:
- Europe-US business ties are super-important
- China watches how US handles Ukraine while thinking about Taiwan
- Russia wants to push US out of Europe
- Many US jobs depend on European trade
During the change-over time Congress should give more help to Ukraine close holes in Russia sanctions and stop limiting weapon use. Trumpʼs possible team might include both pro-Ukraine people (Mike Pompeo‚ Marco Rubio) and some Russia-friendly voices like Elon Musk
With elections coming up in 2 yrs; the new team cant afford to mess up on Ukraine: that would look worse than Bidens messy Afghanistan exit. Even though some worry Trump might give up on Ukraine theres reason to think he wont - even Russian politicians dont seem as happy about his win this time