“Regardless of what happens at the negotiating table, the United States will need to provide weapons to Ukraine for many more years, the authors of the article believe.”, — write: www.unian.ua
Regardless of what happens at the negotiating table, the United States will need to provide weapons to Ukraine for many more years, the authors of the article believe.
The US should arm Ukraine, but not with American money, say Jack Keane and Mark A. Thiessen / photo ua.depositphotos.comIn preparation for possible negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, US President Donald Trump said that he would continue to send American weapons to Kyiv. In an interview with Time magazine last year, he said that the only way to reach an agreement is not to leave Ukraine.According to a column for The Washington Post, retired general, head of the Institute for the Study of War, who was the deputy chief of staff of the US Army, Jack Keane and Post columnist and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Mark A. Thiessen, the new US president is right. To ensure lasting peace, the States must continue arming Ukraine, but not at the expense of American taxpayers.
Regardless of what happens at the negotiating table, the United States will need to provide weapons to Ukraine for many years to come. If Russian dictator Vladimir Putin resists Trump’s peace efforts, the American leader has promised to increase US military support for Ukraine to force the Russian ruler to the negotiating table. And even after peace is achieved, Kiev will need American weapons to deter Russia from resuming hostilities when Trump leaves the White House.
And Trump can supply these weapons to Ukraine without additional burden on American taxpayers. One of the ways is to transform Ukraine from a “recipient of aid to a consumer of defense products.”
“This is the only sustainable way to build long-term cooperation between Washington and Kyiv in the field of defense. Ukraine’s critics say that they oppose an endless war financed by American taxpayers. We, on the other hand, propose a strategy for long-term peace supported by the sale of American weapons,” the authors explain.
In particular, they propose to allow Ukraine to use frozen Russian assets to buy American weapons. Washington and its allies currently control about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. And using this resource to arm Ukraine gives the United States all the benefits of helping Kyiv in the form of jobs and the revival of defense production. At the same time, Putin will pay the bill, not American taxpayers.
Another option mentioned by the authors of the material is loans secured by the natural resources of Ukraine.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump proposed the idea of providing Ukraine with a loan to purchase American weapons. Actually, Ukraine has a lot to “thank”. Although the war has devastated its economy, the country has untapped natural resources estimated at $26 trillion. It is about oil, gas, critical minerals and rare earth metals.
“Ukraine has one of the largest reserves of 22 out of 50 strategic minerals identified as critically important for the US economy and national security, including the largest reserves of uranium in Europe, the second largest reserves of iron ore, titanium and manganese, the third largest reserves shale gas, as well as huge deposits of lithium, graphite and rare earth metals, according to data from the Canadian geopolitical risk analysis company SecDev,” the authors emphasize.
It is noted that the mineral and hydrocarbon resources of Ukraine can be used as collateral for obtaining loans for the purchase of American military equipment, which will allow Kyiv to ensure its own defense.
Aid to Ukraine: the latest newsGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he does not expect a sharp reduction in US aid to Ukraine after President Donald Trump takes office. He justified his position by the fact that Trump intends to find ways to resolve the conflict in the near future and discuss it with Putin.
In addition, on January 20, it became known that Lithuania handed over a new aid package to Ukraine. The country has delivered thousands of drones from Lithuanian manufacturers, as well as thermal imagers and five-ton telescopic handlers.
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