Trump Vows to Use Ukraine Aid as Leverage Against Russia

President-elect Donald Trump said he would use US support for Ukraine as leverage against Russia to negotiate an end to the war, in an interview with Time Magazine.

Trump, a longtime skeptic of continued assistance for Ukraine in its fight to repel Russia’s invasion, was pressed in the interview — published on Thursday — on whether he would continue providing assistance for Kyiv.

“I want to reach an agreement,” Trump said, according to Time. “And the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon.”

Trump, though, was also critical of Kyiv for launching missile strikes at Russian military targets deep in that country’s territory, a move taken after President Joe Biden moved to lift restrictions on Ukraine in the closing weeks of his administration.

“I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that?” Trump said. “We’re just escalating this war and making it worse.”

Trump’s comments come as Ukraine and its allies brace for a shift in US policy in the nearly three-year war to repel Russia’s invasion.

The incoming US president has vowed to settle the conflict, likely by trying to force a negotiated settlement between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Such a deal could result in Kyiv giving up territory occupied by Moscow.

Dead young soldiers

“The Middle East is an easier problem to handle than what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said in the interview. “The numbers of dead young soldiers lying on fields all over the place are staggering. It’s crazy what’s taking place.”

Trump’s comments came in a Time article that also named him its person of the year, a title the Republican is slated to celebrate during an appearance at the New York Stock Exchange where he will ring the opening bell on Thursday. 

The magazine marked the incoming president’s stunning political comeback which saw him returned to the White House and his party gain control of both chambers of Congress, calling Trump “the world’s most powerful man.”

Trump also received the magazine’s recognition in 2016 when he first won the US presidency. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris received the honor in 2020.