Donald Trump will seek a swift end to the war started by Vladimir Putin, the president-elect's former special representative for Ukraine said.
Kurt Volker, who was involved in negotiations with Ukraine and Vladimir Putin between 2017 and 2019 during Trump's previous tenure, told the Kyiv Independent that the Republican will "make a phone call to Putin as quickly as possible" and tell the Russian president that "he needs to stop the war."
His comments come amid uncertainty about what the Trump presidency will mean for continued U.S aid for Ukraine, given his repeated criticism of Washington's financial support. However, Putin will be "a cunning and wily opponent" for Trump and he doesn't want a deal, but rather to take all of Ukraine, Volker said.
If Trump wants to stop the conflict, he will need to convince Putin "that it's going to hurt him, that it's going to cost him too much if he pursues the war, and that's going to require showing much more strength," said Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO.
Volker said one scenario could be to increase oil and gas production and flood the market with cheap energy, which will be bad for Putin's budget. Another tactic could be a lend-lease program in which Ukraine borrows money to buy American weapons.
"I don't think Trump wants to spend American taxpayers' money on Ukraine, but to allow Ukraine to borrow what it needs to defend itself," Volker said. "If you make it, say, $500 billion, a huge number, that should be enough to tell Putin he can't outspend this, he can't win this," Volker said, "and that could also point the way towards a settlement."
Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.
When Trump enters the Oval Office on January 20, the war started by Putin will be nearly three years old and the president-elect's repeated claims he would end the war within "24 hours" have fueled speculation about how he will deal with Russia's aggression.
"Trump could mean anything for Ukraine—selling it for the sake of great power politics or doubling down on inflicting damage to Russia," Orysia Lutsevych, deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Chatham House think tank, told Newsweek.
"But given his fascination with Putin, the risk is that the Kremlin can play the vanity card to its advantage. If Trump is convinced Ukraine is a problem to his ambition, it will be abandoned and will be presented as a European not an American problem," she said.
One idea to end the war involves delaying Kyiv's NATO membership for at least 20 years in exchange for continued arms supplies, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited three unnamed sources close to Trump.
The sources suggested that Trump's inner circle is seeking to freeze the war on the current front lines and create a demilitarized zone in the east.
An unnamed Trump aide told the publication that Washington would demand European allies send in troops to police the 800-mile long demilitarized zone, although other ideas are being considered.
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