The White House has developed a last-ditch strategy to strengthen Ukraine’s war position, including an avalanche of military aid and sweeping sanctions against Russia, according to a background briefing by a National Security Council spokesperson. .
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke for more than an hour Thursday with Ukrainian Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, warning that Ukraine will receive hundreds of thousands more shells and thousands more rockets by mid-2019. It promised to provide ammunition and hundreds of armored vehicles. in January, according to a press conference shared with the Guardian.
The United States has also committed to assisting Ukraine with its human resources challenges and has proposed training new troops at bases outside Ukrainian territory. This will be accompanied by a nearly confirmed $20 billion loan, which will be backed by profits from Russian state assets that are no longer active.
The US is linking this to a number of new sanctions to be implemented in the coming weeks, all aimed at complicating Russia’s ability to wage war and negotiating negotiations that could lay the groundwork for a future settlement. The goal is to increase Ukraine’s negotiating power in the field. .
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The White House’s move comes just over a month before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, when the United States could launch an entirely new strategy for a full ceasefire.
Reuters reports that the president-elect’s team is secretly developing a peace plan for Ukraine that could effectively nullify NATO membership and cede vital territory to Russia, a dramatic departure from current U.S. policy. This suggests a transformation. President Trump has repeatedly said he would end the war between Ukraine and Russia within 24 hours.
Still, Ukrainian officials, including Yermak and Ambassador Oksana Markarova, announced this week that Mike Walz, a Florida representative and nominee for national security adviser, and Trump’s nominee for special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, He is meeting with key figures from the Trump administration’s transition team. Efforts to ensure continued support.
The urgency of these meetings has increased, especially after House Speaker Mike Johnson blocked a vote on $24 billion in additional aid to Ukraine. Still, the Pentagon this week pledged to send $725 million in military aid, the most since April.
