The Financial Times (FT), citing sources close to Donald Trump’s team, reported on October 28 that if he won the U.S. Presidential election, he would freeze the Russian war in Ukraine.
Trump has said he will end the war with Russia in “24 hours”, but he has not elaborated on how he intends to do it. Trump’s inner circle has made some statements and reports that suggest this could mean pressuring Ukraine to cede land or give up its NATO ambitions.
J.D., the Republican vice presidential candidate, has been a strong critic of President Obama’s policies. Vance, according to FT, outlined his idea of freezing the conflict in September by establishing autonomous zones on both sides of demilitarized zones and leaving Ukraine out of NATO.
According to one Trump’s long-time advisors the new plan would rethink failed Minsk agreement of 2014 and 2015. These agreements were never implemented. The agreements included a plan to create autonomous zones in Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast. The Minsk Agreement did not mention the occupied Crimea.
The adviser said that the new plan will include enforcement mechanisms as well as consequences for violating an agreement. According to him, it will be European troops and not NATO or UN peacekeepers who will be responsible for maintaining order.
“America will insist on two things. We will not have men or women in our enforcement mechanism. We don’t pay for it. “Europe is paying for it,” said he.
Allies of Trump argue that Ukraine is losing this war and, as such, pushing for an agreement is morally correct. Trump believes Biden should speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin as presidents did during the Cold War with Soviet leaders, and that NATO membership for Ukraine is not an immediate option.
Fred Fleitz is a former CIA Analyst who served Trump’s White House. He now works at the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security. In an interview with The Financial Times, he suggested that Ukraine’s NATO membership could be removed from the agenda for a few years in order to force Russia to negotiate.
“We freeze conflict, Ukraine doesn’t cede any land, they don’t give up their claims to territorial territory, and we are having negotiations with the understanding that there may not be a final deal until Putin leaves the stage,” Fleitz stated.
The FT reported that this approach will not be supported by the Republican Party as a whole, citing the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Mike Waltz, a Republican House of Representatives speaker who is a leading expert on national security, suggested that Trump might threaten to collapse the Russian economic system by lowering the oil and gas price to bring Putin to negotiating table.
“You flood the globe with cleaner, cheaper American oil and gas.” Waltz added, “You drive down the price.”
Saudi Arabia, a close ally of Trump during his first term in office, would not be happy with such a move. Trump’s supporters insist that he will exert economic pressure on Putin.
“He (Trump), has shown he can bring both sides to a table,” said Ric Grennell, who served as an outspoken ambassador in Berlin and a Balkans envoy during Trump’s first tenure. Grenell recalled the Abraham Accords – the agreements signed by Israel and the United Arab Emirates with Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan when Trump was in power.
He’s done it consistently. “Arabs and Israelis, Russians, and Ukrainians are next.”
Fred Fleitz is a former CIA Analyst who served Trump’s White House. He now works at the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security. In an interview with The Financial Times, he suggested that Ukraine’s NATO membership could be removed from the agenda for a few years in order to force Russia to negotiate.
A HUR source told The Kyiv Independent that the Ukrainian resistance and Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR), sabotaged the Berdiansk railway bridge, which is located in the occupied city.
According to a ruling by the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague in 2023, Russia must pay $5 billion in compensation to the Naftogaz Group for assets illegally confiscated during the Russian occupation in Crimea in 2014.
This is the first official visit of President Volodymyr Zelensky to the island nation. He will meet with the prime ministers from Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
After the full-scale Russian invasion, the town of Kharkiv Oblast in Ukraine, which once numbered 17,000 people, was heavily contested.
Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, said: “I can confirm today that North Korean troops were sent to Russia and that North Korean military forces have been deployed in the Kursk area.”
Bloomberg reported that even if Kamala Harris is in the White House her administration would struggle to get significant resources for Ukraine passed through the U.S. Congress.
The State Emergency Service reported that at least 21 people, including five children were injured in multiple air strikes by Russia on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv Oblast overnight.
South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, reported on October 28 that a group of nearly 200 ex-North Korean troops asked to be sent to Ukraine to demoralize and influence Pyongyang’s troops to join the war on Russia’s side.
“I believe that many countries will try to manipulate our electorate. They’re going try to manipulate our election. “That’s what they do”, J.D. Vance told CBS News.
In a debate with the incumbent president on October 27, Alexandr Stoianoglo, the candidate for the Moldovan presidency, claimed that he would continue to support Ukraine.
The KADORR Group announced that Adnan Kivan had passed away. He was the owner of the KADORR Group, and the English-language Kyiv Post.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged “Georgia’s political leaders to respect rule of law, repeal laws that undermine fundamental freedoms, as well as address deficiencies in the election process together.”
The Russian forces have suffered 1,680 casualties in the last day alone.
State Emergency Service reported that at least 21 people, including five children, were injured in multiple air strikes launched by Russia on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv Oblast overnight on October 28.
“Modi is the Prime Minister of a very large country in terms of population, economy and influence. A country of this size cannot simply say that it is interested in the end to the war. It is all interested. “PM Modi can influence an end to the Ukraine war,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Our interest is peace.” I think that Ukraine is not as important as other regions in the world. “I’m just putting my cards out there,” Republican senator and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance said.
Operation UNIFIER of the Canadian Armed Forces announced on October 26 that Canada had provided Ukraine with a shipment of Light Armored Vehicles 6.0 ACSVs specially configured as ambulances.
Alexander Gusev, regional governor of Voronezh Oblast in Russia, said via his official Telegram Channel that debris from drones that fell to the ground struck two industrial sites on the evening October 27.
On October 27, Russian airstrikes in Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast killed at least five civilians and injured four others. The area is still divided by the frontline and is frequently subjected to Russian artillery, missiles, and drone strikes.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ombudsman, said that “the alleged shooting of women by the occupants in Selydove was a war crimes.” “I immediately wrote to international organizations, the UN and ICRC. I am waiting for the response.”
Grant Shapps, former U.K. defense secretary, argues that “now is the time to not only provide long-range authorization for our Storm Shadow rockets but to also do so without waiting for a Washington decision.”
“I think he is clearly an opponent.” J.D., the Republican candidate for vice president, said that he is a competitor. Vance replied when asked if the Russian President Vladimir Putin was an enemy.
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