Donald Trump is set to enter the White House again. In his victory speech, he indicated one of the major policy decisions he will make will likely be about working to end wars around the world.
Though he did not say where, Ukraine and Israel have been cited by geopolitical experts as the likely focus of Trump 2.0. “I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars,” the Republican US presidential nominee said in his victory speech.
“We had no wars, for four years we had no wars. Except we defeated ISIS,” Mr Trump said. During his last reign from 2016 to 2020, the billionaire businessman had become the first sitting US President to meet a North Korean leader when Mr Trump shook hands with Kim Jong Un at a historic summit in Singapore.
As the US election results unfolded today, Ukrainians nervously followed the news, some fearing that a victory for Mr Trump could halt Washington’s vital aid to the nation fighting Russian forces.
The outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian army is on the backfoot against Russia’s advancing troops. Moscow’s alliance with North Korea also appears more solid than ever, with Washington and Seoul saying thousands of North Korean troops have been sent to Russia.
By contrast, Ukraine’s war-fatigued backers could be further disheartened by the return to the White House of Mr Trump, who has given no assurance of support to Kyiv. “A Trump victory would create grave risks. The situation would be alarming,” former Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oleg Shamshur told news agency AFP.
Washington has driven NATO-wide support to Ukraine, with Kyiv receiving billions of dollars in financial and military aid enabling it to keep up the fight against a much more powerful Russia. That support has however been eroded in Europe and the United States over the past few months.
Mr Trump’s repeated criticism of US support for Ukraine and claims that he would end the fighting within 24 hours, have only raised Ukraine’s fears.