Two of his main advisors donald trump presented a plan aimed at terminating of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which seems to be generally accepted. According to an exclusive report from Reuters, this plan, which the former president of USAIf re-elected, he predicts that a clear message will be sent to Kyivthat it will no longer receive weapons and military aid in general from Washington if it does not sit down at the negotiating table for a peace agreement with Moscow.
The US – according to the plan – will simultaneously warn Russia that any refusal to negotiate will mean an increase in US aid to Ukraine, as Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general, revealed to the news agency. Kellogg is the creator of the plan along with Fred Fleits.
Both served as chiefs of staff for the National Security Council during the Trump presidency (2017 – 2021). As Kellogg explained to Reuters, for the duration of the peace talks, a ceasefire will be observed based on the prevailing battle lines.
Dramatic change compared to the strategy so far
In turn, Fleitz clarified that Trump’s reaction to the plan was positive, without this meaning that he “agreed with every word”. Stephen Cheung, Donald Trump’s spokesman, noted that only statements by the president himself or authorized members of his campaign should be considered official.
The strategy, outlined by Kellogg and Fleitz, is the most detailed plan for Ukraine put forward by associates of Trump, who has repeatedly publicly stressed that he will seek an immediate end to the war if he wins the election against John Biden on November 5. The statements he made about the need for peace talks also seem consistent with Kellogg and Fleits’ plan. If re-elected, he will officially take office on January 1, 2025 and will be able to put his plans into action.
If it finally follows the strategy of its close partners, we will see a dramatic change in the US position on the war, which will probably trigger reactions within the European Union as well.
It should be noted that neither the Kremlin nor the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry wanted to respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the plan.
What do they promise for either side?
The plan’s key points were outlined in a publicly available research document published by the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-linked think tank in which Kellogg and Fleitz hold leadership positions. Kellogg said it would be crucial to quickly bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table if Trump wins the election. “We tell the Ukrainians: you must come to the table. And if you don’t come to the table, the support will end,” he said. “And we are telling Putin that he has to sit at the table, and if he doesn’t do, we will give the Ukrainians everything they need to win on the front.”
According to the plan, as bait to start peace talks, Moscow would also receive a promise to postpone Ukraine’s accession to NATO for a long time. Ukraine will not have to formally cede territory. But Trump’s two advisers say he is unlikely to regain effective control of all of his territory in the near future. “Our concern is that, if the war of attrition continues, it will kill an entire generation of young people”, they emphasize.