President-elect Donald Trump suggested on Monday that he would reverse President Joe Biden’s recent decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use US long-range weapons to strike deep into Russian territory. can
Trump called Biden’s decision “stupid” last month. He also expressed outrage that his incoming administration was not consulted before Biden took action. By easing sanctions, Biden has long allowed Ukraine to use US-supplied Army tactical missile systems to strike Russian positions hundreds of miles from its border.
“I don’t think it should be allowed, when there’s a possibility — certainly not a few weeks before I take office,” Trump said at a broad press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. “Why would they do that without asking me what I thought? I wouldn’t have made him do that. I think it was a big mistake.” The Biden administration’s move has drawn criticism from Trump as the Democratic administration aims to push every last dollar already earmarked for Ukraine out the door before Trump takes office on Jan. 20 to help stave off Russian aggression, leaving future aid uncertain.
But while Biden has tried to increase arms and other aid to Ukraine in his final five weeks in office, the moment underscored that it is Trump who will have the most significant influence over how Ukraine can use U.S.-provided weapons in the long term. This is a significant piece of leverage he can use to try to follow through on his campaign promise to bring about a swift end to the conflict.
Asked if he would consider reversing the Biden administration’s decision, Trump replied: “I might. I think it was a very stupid thing to do.” The White House pushed back on Trump’s criticism, noting the decision was made after months of deliberations that began before last month’s election.
“All I can assure you is that in the conversations we’ve had with them since the election, and we’ve done it at various levels, we’ve conveyed to them the reasoning behind it, the thinking behind it, why we’re doing it,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. Said about the coordination of the current administration with the outgoing administration.
Trump’s relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been under scrutiny since his presidential campaign in 2016, when he called on Russia to find and release missing emails deleted by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Trump has publicly backed Putin to support U.S. intelligence officials on whether Russia meddled in the 2016 election, and Trump has praised the Russian leader and called him “pretty smart” for invading Ukraine.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has said that despite America’s differences with Russia, viewing Moscow as an enemy is counterproductive.
Trump on Monday repeated calls for both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war, calling the death and despair caused by the conflict “carnage.” But Trump also acknowledged that finding an immediate end game to the war — something he has previously said he could do within 24 hours of taking office — could be difficult.
“I think the Middle East is going to be in a better place,” Trump said, referring to Syria, which has been in turmoil since the conflict in Gaza and the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. “I think actually the Russia-Ukraine situation is going to be more difficult.” Trump has refused to say whether he has spoken with Putin since the election.
Zelensky met with Trump in Paris earlier this month, while the president-elect was visiting France for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials are making strong efforts to maintain Ukraine’s support for Trump.
But the situation on the ground in Ukraine continues to be complicated as both sides wrestle for battlefield advantage that would give them leverage in any negotiations to end the nearly three-year war.
The Pentagon last week revealed US intelligence that predicted Russia could soon launch a new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine.
Putin deployed the missiles for the first time since Biden eased sanctions on Ukraine last month. Putin warned the West that Russia’s next use could be against Ukraine’s NATO allies, which allowed Kiev to use its long-range missiles to attack inside Russia.
After months of pressure from Zelensky and many of his Western supporters, Biden agreed to ease the sanctions. They argued that the US sanctions had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to prevent Russian attacks on its cities and electricity grids.
The outgoing president finally made the decision last month amid concerns that Russia had deployed thousands of North Korean troops to the Kursk border region captured by Ukraine this year.
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