Trump and Harris to meet with Zelenskyy

Thus, it can be said that during his stay in the United States, the President of Ukraine will meet not only with the current President of the United States, Joseph Biden, but also with both contenders for the highest office in the United States. Why is this so important?

President Zelenskyy has stated that he would like to present his victory plan to Biden, Trump, and Harris, a plan that is currently being worked on in the office of the head of the Ukrainian state. However, the issue is not so much about this document, but rather the direct contacts between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the current President of the United States, as well as the presidential candidates.

Zelenskyy will likely present the same document to Biden, Harris, and Trump; however, their attitudes toward how the Russia-Ukraine war will develop in the coming years may differ significantly.

For U.S. President Joseph Biden, it is crucial to consider what actions he can take to assist Ukraine in its confrontation with the Russian Federation in the final months of his presidency. For those preparing to become President of the United States, the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war is central to their potential tenure, determining how this conflict will evolve in the near future and whether the new American President will have to pass the resolution of this conflict to their successor, the winner of the 2028 U.S. presidential election.

To prevent this from happening and to ensure that the resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war is tied to the 2024-2028 term—at least when discussing the election period, as we understand that the term is from 2025 to 2029—it is necessary to have serious discussions with those who aspire to lead the United States. Their vision of how events will unfold is crucial, and not just, or even primarily, the vision of the Ukrainian president, because Ukraine depends on military and financial assistance from the United States and the entire civilized world, and not vice versa.

Of course, Volodymyr Zelenskyy may have his own proposals and vision, but it is important for the Ukrainian leader to understand how Kamala Harris and Donald Trump see the further development of events on the Russian-Ukrainian front and in the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation. This confrontation will continue even if we theoretically imagine the possibility of the war ending, as it represents Russia's ongoing clash with the entire civilized world.

We often say that Kamala Harris will continue Joseph Biden’s policy of supporting Ukraine. Certainly, this raises no doubts. However, as we know, the devil is always in the details. What kind of Congress will there be if Kamala Harris leads the United States, and how will she work with that Congress? With what majority will she have to work? How does she envision the pace of future U.S. support for Ukraine following her election victory? Does she consider freezing the conflict, and if so, how could such a freeze be achieved when Russian leader Vladimir Putin leans toward a protracted war to exhaust his neighboring state?

It is even more challenging with Donald Trump. Various views on ending the Russian-Ukrainian war have already been expressed by the former U.S. president’s team. Trump himself has voiced differing opinions on multiple occasions. However, if we look at the mainstream views of the former president, along with those of people close to him, such as his son, Donald Trump Jr., who recently shared his thoughts with The Hill, or J.D. Vance, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, we can see a pattern emerging.

It is evident that in Washington, Trump will likely see the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war not through meetings with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but in direct negotiations between the U.S. president and the president of the Russian Federation. They may believe that Ukraine should accept the decisions made by Trump and Putin, which is far from reality, since Ukraine is not a satellite of the United States, and Ukrainian society is unlikely to agree to humiliating conditions, even to stop the Russian-Ukrainian war.

But the most important point is not even this; it’s that Vladimir Putin will never agree to a peace that doesn’t turn the Russian Federation into a geopolitical competitor to the United States, something Donald Trump would like to prevent. In Trump’s vision, Russia would be a partner of the U.S. in countering the People’s Republic of China, which is also a complete utopia. Putin dreams of a Russia that would not only be China’s ally but also a geopolitical leader in Europe, and together with China, weaken U.S. influence and push it out of global political and economic positions. Such a Russia is absolutely undesirable for Donald Trump.

And the United States that Donald Trump wants to make "great again," as per his own rhetoric, is equally undesirable for Vladimir Putin. Thus, any agreements between Trump and Putin seem to be an absolute utopia. The question arises, however, whether Zelenskyy can explain this to Trump, and how Trump will act if he becomes the U.S. president and realizes that Putin doesn’t care at all about his utopian ideas, his son, or his circle—something Putin, as president of Russia, does with complete disregard for the consequences.

Will this lead to a conflict between the U.S. and the Russian Federation, that is, to a real World War III with both states using nuclear weapons against the powers of the modern world? Or has Donald Trump decided that it would be better to wash his hands of the matter, so to speak, and limit himself to observing the situation in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, while agreeing to the dominance of dictatorships elsewhere in the world? We don’t know. If Trump becomes president of the U.S., then we will find out. However, even now, President Zelenskyy needs to convince former President Trump of the fallacy of his approaches and try to understand what Kamala Harris is preparing for future actions in Ukraine and in the confrontation with the Russian Federation.

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About the author. Vitaly Portnikov, journalist, winner of the Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.

The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.