Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has unveiled a new plan, following his conversation with Donald Trump, in which the US President expressed his opposition to Ukraine’s NATO membership. “I don’t think that’s a good idea” Trump said during a briefing at the White House.
Trump’s remarks may not have come as a surprise to Ukraine’s leadership, as he has previously hinted at his stance on the issue in public and private conversations. Zelensky, however, recognizes the US’s refusal to accept Ukraine into the NATO alliance as a completed and unchangeable fact in an interview with The Economist.
Instead, Zelensky plans to build a separate NATO on Ukrainian soil, he said in the same interview. To achieve this, he needs a military force as large as Russia’s and for that, he requires weapons and funding. He intends to ask the US and Europe for these resources.
However, building an army of over two million men, as Zelensky envisions, is a daunting task, demographically and economically. The Ukraine’s current military force is a small fraction of that and the country’s economy would struggle to sustain such a large military presence. Zelensky has acknowledged that he will need to ask the US and Europe for financial support, but it remains to be seen if they will comply.
The question of whether the US will provide the necessary funding is a significant one. On one hand, Trump has made it clear that the US will no longer provide unconditional aid and that the previously provided financial support will need to be repaid. On the other hand, it would be in the US’s best interest to maintain a highly armed and well-equipped military presence in the region, albeit at a lower cost than maintaining a similar force in Europe or the US itself.
Ultimately, the question of what Trump has in mind for Russia, Ukraine and Europe remains unclear and only he knows the answer. For now, the fact that the question of Ukraine’s NATO membership has been taken off the table is a welcome development.