Trump’s victory could mean US withdraws support for Ukraine in war with Russia

With the reelection of Donald Trump, Ukraine may soon have to adjust to a dramatic reduction in US support that could have a decisive impact on the war with Russia.

Trump’s victory comes at a precarious moment in the conflict for Kyiv. Russia has steadily been making gains in the eastern Donbas region, which Russian President Vladimir Putin aims to capture in full.

Throughout his campaign, the Republican president-elect and his running mate, JD Vance, have cast strong doubts on continued US commitment to Kyiv as the war drags on more than two and half years after Russian forces invaded. Moreover, Trump has made comments that suggest the US could pressure Ukraine into an uneasy truce with Russia.

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement on Telegram on Saturday that the situation on the front line “remains difficult” and that certain areas “require constant renewal of resources of Ukrainian units.”

Meanwhile, Russia is understood to be bolstering its manpower with North Korean forces. As many as 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia’s Kursk region and are expected to enter combat against Ukraine in the coming days, US officials have warned.

Under the Biden administration, the US has provided tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, in the form of both weapons and budget assistance. The administration plans to continue to surge as much support as possible to Kyiv before Trump takes office.

Ukrainian soldiers wait to board a US-made M113 armored personnel carrier to depart for the front, in an undisclosed area in the eastern Donetsk region, on August 5, 2024. 

Trump has repeatedly praised Putin – and repeatedly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom he has a complicated history. Trump’s efforts to leverage US military aid to Ukraine to force Zelensky to investigate the former president’s political rivals were the key focus of Trump’s first impeachment in 2019.

Zelensky congratulated Trump on Wednesday and said he appreciates Trump’s commitment to “peace through strength.”

“We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership. We rely on continued strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States,” Zelensky wrote in a social media post. “We are interested in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations.”

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Ukraine-Russia war would not have started if he had been president. He has also vowed to end the war, sometimes even claiming he would stop the years-long conflict before taking office. In July, he said he could settle the conflict in one day.