David Baron
07-26-2024
Could this be Trump's plan for establishing peace in Ukraine and Europe? Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and David J. Urban, a former advisor to Trump's campaigns in 2016 and 2020, published an article last night in the Wall Street Journal, outlining what might be the Republican administration's plan if Trump is elected president. Israel is also mentioned in the plan.
According to the authors, "While Mr. Biden stumbled into war through weakness, Mr. Trump could re-establish peace through strength."
So what is required to achieve said peace? The authors list seven steps:
• Unleash America's energy potential. This will fire up the U.S. economy, drive down prices and shrink Mr. Putin's war-crimes budget.
• Rebuild ties with Saudi Arabia and Israel and work together against Iran. This will stabilize the Middle East, ease the Gaza crisis, and create an opening for the Saudis to join the U.S. in squeezing Russia out of global energy markets.
• Impose real sanctions on Russia. The Biden administration's sanctions sound good on paper but are hollow. The Treasury, for example, exempts Russian banks from U.S. sanctions if their transactions are related to energy production—the most important revenue source for the Kremlin's war machine.
• Bulk up America's defense industry. We must show our adversaries, especially Russia and China, that they can't compete with U.S. defense capabilities. Russia's economy is smaller than Texas'. We can't allow China to match and surpass the U.S.
Revitalize the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This includes making Europeans pay their fair share. It is time to raise the bar on spending to 3% of member countries' gross domestic product.
• Create a $500 billion "lend-lease" program for Ukraine. Instead of saddling U.S. taxpayers with more bills, let Ukraine borrow as much as it needs to buy American weapons to defeat Russia. This is how we helped Britain in World War II before Pearl Harbor. It's how we can send a clear signal to Mr. Putin that he will never win.
• Lift all restrictions on the type of weapons Ukraine can obtain and use. This will re-establish a position of strength, which Mr. Putin will understand means the war must end. He will face rising costs and no chance of further gain.
According to the authors, these steps would "position Mr. Trump to set the terms of a deal: The war stops immediately. Ukraine builds up substantial defense forces so Russia never attacks again. No one recognizes Russia's occupation and claimed annexation of any Ukrainian territories - just as we never recognized the Soviet incorporation of the Baltic states and withheld recognition from East Germany until 1974. Crimea is demilitarized. Ukraine rebuilds with reparations from Russia's frozen central-bank reserves, not U.S. taxpayer dollars. Ukraine joins NATO as soon as possible so all European allies assume the burden of protecting it. NATO should establish a $100 billion fund for arming Ukraine, with the U.S. share capped at 20%, as is the case with other alliance common budgets. The European Union should swiftly admit Ukraine and help it modernize and develop its economy."
And what about Russia? "If Russia complies with these terms, the West will gradually lift sanctions. They will be fully removed once Ukraine is in both NATO and the EU." Pompeo and Urban state that "these steps, and not the half-measures of the Biden administration, will end the war, establish a lasting peace, ensure Europe bears the burden of maintaining it, and re-establish freedom and security on the Continent."
"For those who doubt," the authors conclude, "The last thing Mr. Trump wants in a second term is a foreign-policy failure that distracts from his domestic agenda and makes Mr. Biden's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan look like a success in comparison."
The article was published amid growing concerns about the cessation of American aid to Kyiv if Trump wins the election. Pompeo and Urban also address this, claiming there is "no basis to the pundits' claims" that Trump will stop the aid, demand Kyiv to cede territories, and together with Putin impose a "shameful peace."
However, these concerns did not arise from nothing. Trump himself has not said anything substantive about the war except that "it needs to end," promising "to end it within 24 hours," and making statements about Ukraine facing a war machine that already defeated Napoleon and Hitler, in an interview with Fox.
But security experts around him have spoken to Politico, Reuters, and the Washington Post, and what they proposed definitely included the possibility of coercing Ukraine to give up territories and even not accepting NATO membership. Moreover, Trump's choice of J.D. Vance, an opponent of aid to Ukraine, as his vice president is noteworthy: he is known as an opponent of continued aid to Kyiv.
Therefore, it can be assumed the article is evidence of struggles to shape Trump's foreign policy and an attempt to draw him to the authors' side.
Trump has complex relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. On the one hand, in 2017, he lifted the embargo on supplying Javelin anti-tank missiles, which the Biden administration provided in large quantities at the outbreak of the war. Last spring, he gave the green light to lifting the Republicans' prolonged opposition in the House of Representatives to provide a $61 billion aid package to Ukraine.
On the other hand, during 2019, Trump delayed transferring aid to Kyiv until Zelensky agreed to his demand to investigate conspiracies, which would have hurt Joe Biden, then the Democratic presidential candidate. Only after Trump's pressures were leaked did he release the aid. The House of Representatives impeached Trump over the affair, but the Senate acquitted him, and he remained in office.
07-26-2024
Could this be Trump's plan for establishing peace in Ukraine and Europe? Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and David J. Urban, a former advisor to Trump's campaigns in 2016 and 2020, published an article last night in the Wall Street Journal, outlining what might be the Republican administration's plan if Trump is elected president. Israel is also mentioned in the plan.
According to the authors, "While Mr. Biden stumbled into war through weakness, Mr. Trump could re-establish peace through strength."
So what is required to achieve said peace? The authors list seven steps:
• Unleash America's energy potential. This will fire up the U.S. economy, drive down prices and shrink Mr. Putin's war-crimes budget.
• Rebuild ties with Saudi Arabia and Israel and work together against Iran. This will stabilize the Middle East, ease the Gaza crisis, and create an opening for the Saudis to join the U.S. in squeezing Russia out of global energy markets.
• Impose real sanctions on Russia. The Biden administration's sanctions sound good on paper but are hollow. The Treasury, for example, exempts Russian banks from U.S. sanctions if their transactions are related to energy production—the most important revenue source for the Kremlin's war machine.
• Bulk up America's defense industry. We must show our adversaries, especially Russia and China, that they can't compete with U.S. defense capabilities. Russia's economy is smaller than Texas'. We can't allow China to match and surpass the U.S.
Revitalize the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This includes making Europeans pay their fair share. It is time to raise the bar on spending to 3% of member countries' gross domestic product.
• Create a $500 billion "lend-lease" program for Ukraine. Instead of saddling U.S. taxpayers with more bills, let Ukraine borrow as much as it needs to buy American weapons to defeat Russia. This is how we helped Britain in World War II before Pearl Harbor. It's how we can send a clear signal to Mr. Putin that he will never win.
• Lift all restrictions on the type of weapons Ukraine can obtain and use. This will re-establish a position of strength, which Mr. Putin will understand means the war must end. He will face rising costs and no chance of further gain.
According to the authors, these steps would "position Mr. Trump to set the terms of a deal: The war stops immediately. Ukraine builds up substantial defense forces so Russia never attacks again. No one recognizes Russia's occupation and claimed annexation of any Ukrainian territories - just as we never recognized the Soviet incorporation of the Baltic states and withheld recognition from East Germany until 1974. Crimea is demilitarized. Ukraine rebuilds with reparations from Russia's frozen central-bank reserves, not U.S. taxpayer dollars. Ukraine joins NATO as soon as possible so all European allies assume the burden of protecting it. NATO should establish a $100 billion fund for arming Ukraine, with the U.S. share capped at 20%, as is the case with other alliance common budgets. The European Union should swiftly admit Ukraine and help it modernize and develop its economy."
And what about Russia? "If Russia complies with these terms, the West will gradually lift sanctions. They will be fully removed once Ukraine is in both NATO and the EU." Pompeo and Urban state that "these steps, and not the half-measures of the Biden administration, will end the war, establish a lasting peace, ensure Europe bears the burden of maintaining it, and re-establish freedom and security on the Continent."
"For those who doubt," the authors conclude, "The last thing Mr. Trump wants in a second term is a foreign-policy failure that distracts from his domestic agenda and makes Mr. Biden's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan look like a success in comparison."
The article was published amid growing concerns about the cessation of American aid to Kyiv if Trump wins the election. Pompeo and Urban also address this, claiming there is "no basis to the pundits' claims" that Trump will stop the aid, demand Kyiv to cede territories, and together with Putin impose a "shameful peace."
However, these concerns did not arise from nothing. Trump himself has not said anything substantive about the war except that "it needs to end," promising "to end it within 24 hours," and making statements about Ukraine facing a war machine that already defeated Napoleon and Hitler, in an interview with Fox.
But security experts around him have spoken to Politico, Reuters, and the Washington Post, and what they proposed definitely included the possibility of coercing Ukraine to give up territories and even not accepting NATO membership. Moreover, Trump's choice of J.D. Vance, an opponent of aid to Ukraine, as his vice president is noteworthy: he is known as an opponent of continued aid to Kyiv.
Therefore, it can be assumed the article is evidence of struggles to shape Trump's foreign policy and an attempt to draw him to the authors' side.
Trump has complex relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. On the one hand, in 2017, he lifted the embargo on supplying Javelin anti-tank missiles, which the Biden administration provided in large quantities at the outbreak of the war. Last spring, he gave the green light to lifting the Republicans' prolonged opposition in the House of Representatives to provide a $61 billion aid package to Ukraine.
On the other hand, during 2019, Trump delayed transferring aid to Kyiv until Zelensky agreed to his demand to investigate conspiracies, which would have hurt Joe Biden, then the Democratic presidential candidate. Only after Trump's pressures were leaked did he release the aid. The House of Representatives impeached Trump over the affair, but the Senate acquitted him, and he remained in office.
Loading…
www.israelhayom.com
