The News
Rep. Mike Waltz, Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, has called for ending the war in Ukraine and voted against Ukraine aid in Congress, as has Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s choice for United Nations ambassador.
So too has Sen. Marco Rubio, who Trump is expected to name as secretary of state (although some Republicans have cautioned that nothing is set in stone until Trump makes an official announcement).
Even so, these choices have not sparked too much alarm in Kyiv or among its supporters, many of whom had feared Trump would appoint people to top posts far more skeptical of Ukraine.
SIGNALS
Top Trump picks want a Ukraine deal
Waltz, who will be tasked with coordinating US foreign policy, has criticized the Biden administration’s “blank check” approach to Ukraine, and called on European countries to carry more of the burden. Waltz has also defended the president-elect’s Russia record, arguing that Trump was much tougher toward Moscow than his critics in Washington would suggest. In an interview with NPR, Waltz said the US should ramp up the pressure on Moscow to force them to the negotiating table, and has proposed strengthening energy sanctions and “taking the handcuffs off” Ukraine and letting them use American weapons to strike deeper into Russia. Rubio, meanwhile, has struck a pragmatic tone, saying that he is “not on Russia’s side,” but that the “reality” of the war’s progress means it will end in “a negotiated settlement.”
Ukrainians hope Trump will be more decisive than Biden
Some Ukrainians hope the president-elect will prove more decisive than Joe Biden, whom many blame for delays in military aid and for limiting how Ukraine uses the weapons it receives. Kyiv was prepared for a Republican victory, crafting parts of Zelenskyy’s victory plan with Trump in mind, the Financial Times reported, and Ukraine has made various promises to beef up Europe’s defenses after the war is over in an appeal to Trump. Some experts believe it is “unlikely” Trump would want to be seen as weak by accepting a peace deal that overly debilitates Ukraine. “The last thing that Trump is going to want there would be a chaotic collapse, a la Afghanistan 2.0,” a former US official told Vox.
Rubio goes from Ukraine defender to voting against aid packages
Marco Rubio, who is widely tipped to be Trump’s top diplomat, has transformed his views on Ukraine in recent years. During his unsuccessful presidential bid in 2016, Rubio called Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea “a historic affront to the post-World War II global order,” and promised tougher sanctions and more military aid to Ukraine. Since then, the Florida senator has staked out a position closer to Trump, criticizing the US for funding a stalemate in Ukraine. “Rubio is a flexible and pragmatic politician who has accommodated himself to the rise of President Trump,” one expert told Al Jazeera. However, Rubio has been criticized for being too hawkish on foreign policy, and not fully embracing the “America First” restraint many other Trump supporters espouse.