In the last months of his administration, US President Joe Biden is actively working to strengthen Ukraine's position in the war against Russia. These steps include a series of decisions aimed at providing further support to Kyiv in resisting aggression from Moscow. In particular, the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to strike on Russian territory, introduced new sanctions against Russian financial institutions and agreed to write off part of the debt. According to experts, this is an attempt to strengthen Ukraine's position before the possible accession of Donald Trump to power in 2025.
According to the newspaper, in recent days, Joe Biden is trying to strengthen Ukraine's position against Russia before Donald Trump returns to the White House, because the newly elected president promised to immediately end the war started by Vladimir Putin almost three years ago. That likely means a negotiated settlement, with Biden trying to bolster aid to Ukraine.
The publication notes that the Biden administration recently gave permission to Ukraine to strike on the territory of the Russian Federation, which Moscow and the Trump camp assessed as an escalation.
Also this week, the White House approved the transfer of landmines to Ukraine, forgave nearly $5 billion in debt and imposed sanctions on a major Russian bank that makes payments for natural gas sales.
Those moves, among others still under consideration, are part of Biden's plan to do as much as possible to strengthen Ukraine before Trump takes office. The strategy aims to help Zelensky by showing that Ukraine has the potential to retaliate against Russia if it continues hostilities
That doesn't mean Biden's latest moves would be entirely unwelcome to Trump, who could use a stronger Ukraine as a bargaining chip for a settlement that he could frame as a victory, it said.
"Some of the decisions that Biden is making now could help Trump, probably by putting Trump in a stronger position to end the war, with Ukraine in a stronger position for any negotiations," said Shelby Magid, deputy director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.
