Ukraine seeks Trump’s support, promises geostrategic benefits for US

Ukrainian officials and business leaders are seeking ways to persuade newly elected United States President Donald Trump that a strong Ukraine aligns with his political interests.

Kyiv aims to convince Trump that Ukraine is not a charity case, but rather a cost-effective economic and geostrategic opportunity that will ultimately benefit and safeguard the United States and its interests, Caliber.Az reports citing The Washington Post reported.

‘Ukraine hopes that by adopting Trump's transactional approach to diplomacy, including offering lucrative business opportunities to US companies, the new president will help fend off a Russian offensive,’ the publication wrote.

Despite Trump’s and many of his inner circle’s views that the conflict is costing US taxpayers too much and should be quickly resolved, Ukrainian officials continue to hope that Trump will help end the war in a manner they consider fair. This rhetoric has fueled fears that Trump may abruptly cut US support for Ukraine’s military and pressure Kyiv to surrender territory to Russia.

However, officials in Ukraine are frustrated with the Biden administration’s slow rollout of aid. Many Ukrainians are largely overlooking Trump’s recent negative comments, focusing instead on how he was the first US president to directly sell lethal weapons to Ukraine.

“The first weapons that Ukraine received from the US came from a president who hates Ukraine,” said Dmytro Kuleba, who served as Ukraine’s foreign minister until September. He added that despite Trump’s unpredictability, his presidency could lead to positive changes for Ukraine.

To win Trump’s support this time, Kyiv will need to create situations where supporting Ukraine becomes a projection of Trump’s strengths, Kuleba said. “If his goal is to project strength and eventually say ‘I’m better than Biden, that Biden failed and I ended [the war],’ then selling out Ukraine is not the way forward.”

Ukrainian officials are cautiously optimistic that Trump can act faster and more decisively than his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak stated that Kyiv would need to explain the political pragmatism of supporting Ukraine to Trump.

“You are spending a small amount of money today to support Ukraine — weapons, finance, and the like — investing and manufacturing. You completely negate Russia's military capability, and after that, you dominate,” he said.

Ukraine has significant lithium deposits, a valuable rare earth metal used in electric car batteries and microchips. The largest deposit is located in the central part of the country, away from the frontline. Ukraine’s lithium reserves are enough to produce 15 million electric car batteries.

“Control over lithium is control over the economy of the future,” said Volodymyr Vasyuk, an expert on Ukrainian industry who advises the Ukrainian parliament on economic matters.

One lithium deposit is occupied by Russia, while another is near a war zone.

The lithium issue could even attract the attention of sceptics like Elon Musk, given his focus on the electric vehicle industry.

Last week, Senator Lindsey Graham described Ukraine as the home of rare earth minerals with a potential value in the trillions of dollars.

“Ukraine is willing to go to an agreement with us, not the Russians. So it's in our interest to make sure that Russia doesn't take over the place,” he said.

In the final months of his presidency, US President Joe Biden has been working to strengthen Ukraine’s position against Russia. This comes as Donald Trump has pledged to swiftly end the war after entering the White House in January.

Among Biden’s recent actions were allowing Kyiv to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory, a move that was immediately criticized by Moscow and Trump’s camp as an unnecessary escalation.

The White House also approved the delivery of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, canceled nearly $5 billion in debt, and imposed sanctions on a major Russian bank that processes payments for natural gas sales.

By Tamilla Hasanova