Pompeo: Trump May Approve $500 Billion Lend-Lease For Ukraine
- 26.07.2024, 10:12
It is also possible to remove all restrictions on the use of American weapons by the Ukrainian forces.
US presidential candidate Donald Trump could create a $500 billion lend-lease program for Ukraine if he wins the election, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in the article for The Wall Street Journal.
“Instead of burdening U.S. taxpayers with new bills, let Ukraine borrow as much as it needs to buy American weapons to defeat Russia,” Pompeo said, explaining what a successful plan for resolving the conflict in Ukraine that Trump can implement might look like.
The former Secretary of State recalled that the same tools were used by the United States to help Great Britain in World War II before the Japanese military attacked the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The attack ended with a decisive tactical victory for Japan and served as a pretext for the US entry into the war.
Pompeo also suggested that Trump remove all restrictions on the types of weapons that Ukraine can receive and use, as well as impose "real sanctions" against Russia (the Russian authorities consider the restrictions illegitimate and illegal). This, according to the former Secretary of State, will allow Trump to set the conditions for a future deal with Russia: hostilities cease, Ukraine is building up significant defense forces, and the accession of Donbas and Crimea to Russia — what Russian President Vladimir Putin demands to start peace negotiations and withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine — no one recognizes.
"Just as we never recognized the accession of the Baltic States to the USSR and did not recognize the GDR until 1974," Pompeo said. Ukraine, according to his plan, will recover at the expense of "reparations from the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia, and not at the expense of the US dollars of the taxpayers." Sanctions against Russia will be lifted if Ukraine joins NATO and the EU.
At the end of June 2024, two of Trump's key advisers, Keith Kellogg and Fred Fleitz, presented him with a plan to resolve the conflict in Ukraine if he wins the election. According to the plan of the advisers, Kyiv will receive more weapons only if peace negotiations begin. At the same time, the U.S. authorities will warn Moscow about strengthening support for Kyiv in the event of "any" refusal to negotiate. According to the plan, a ceasefire based on the “prevailing front lines” will be achieved during the peace talks.
Fleitz suggested that a key element of a lasting peace would be “arming Ukraine to the teeth”.
Trump himself has repeatedly stated that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in 24 hours if he were the President of the United States.