Advisors close to Donald Trump, the US President-elect, have made different proposals on how to resolve Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal, citing Trump’s team, says that this plan would effectively freeze the conflict in place.
Experts and Ukrainian officials warned in the past that freezing the conflict would be a win for Russia. It would allow it to consolidate its control over occupied regions of Ukraine, and give them time to reconstitute their forces and prepare for a further invasion. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Russian officials have repeatedly stressed that the Kremlin is aiming for Ukraine’s de facto surrender, loss of independence and abandonment NATO aspirations.
The WSJ reports one idea that was proposed in Trump’s transitional office involved Ukraine promising to not join NATO for 20 years. In exchange, according to reports, the US would continue to provide Ukraine weapons and other forms of military aid in order to deter future Russian aggression.
This proposal would lock in place the current frontlines of the war, with both Ukraine, and Russia agreeing on “an 800-mile demilitarized area” along the frontline. The Wall Street Journal reports that details about who would police the demilitarized area remain unclear. However, one adviser stated that it would not include American troops or funding by a US-backed organization like the United Nations.
“We can provide training and other support but the barrel will be European,” a Trump team member told the WSJ. “We will not send American soldiers to Ukraine to maintain the peace. We are not paying. “Get the Poles, Germans and British to do it.”
This proposal seems to echo comments made during an interview with JD Vance in September, where he suggested that a final agreement could include a heavily fortified, demilitarized area, which would allow Russia to keep land it has already taken, while assuring Ukraine’s neutrality and preventing her from joining NATO.
Former members of Trump’s first White House administration Keith Kellogg, and Fred Fleitz proposed a plan to Trump earlier this summer that called for the withholding of weapons from Ukraine until Kyiv agreed to peace talks with Russia. Under this plan, Ukraine could still try to regain lost territories, but it would have to do so diplomatically, rather than militarily.
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