The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy may unexpectedly welcome the possible victory of Donald Trump in the presidential elections in the USA, writes the British magazine The Economist .
According to the magazine, many Ukrainian high-ranking officials hoped for Trump's victory.
"Faced with a choice between continuing minimal support or a wild-card president who would tear up the rules and almost certainly cut aid, they were willing to take the risk," the paper reported.
In private, Zelenskyi's entourage speaks of the "weakness and hypocrisy" of the Biden administration, which is afraid of escalation with Russia and is delaying even promised aid packages.
"However, a Trump victory could offer Zelensky a way out of what looks like a bloody stalemate at best and defeat at worst," the article says.
The publication believes that "a complete sell-out of Ukraine by Trump is unlikely, not least because of the opinion within his own Republican Party. He, of course, will not want to be the author and owner of Ukraine's defeat."
Instead, in support, Trump can demand from Ukraine access to its natural resources. At the same time, liberal values will worry him much less, the magazine believes. The publication believes that Trump will prepare his draft agreement already in January before his inauguration.
As the publication writes, at the moment Ukrainian officials are working with two public formulations of Trump's possible "peace plan".
The first, related to the future vice-president Jay D. Vance, provides for the freezing of the war on the current positions and the neutrality of Ukraine.
The second plan, which favors the Ukrainian authorities, was outlined by Trump's former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the Wall Street Journal. In this plan, the main focus is on strengthening military and financial support as a deterrent for Moscow. At the same time, the prospect of joining NATO remains. Much may depend on which plan Trump prefers.
The unknown element remains Putin and what he will agree to. Sources close to the Russian leader have given mixed signals about his willingness to negotiate, with one day reporting his willingness to freeze hostilities along the existing contact line. The next day, they insist on something similar to the capitulation of Ukraine," writes The Economist.
At the same time, the publication cites the opinion of the ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Prystaik, who says that in the coming months the Russians may launch massive attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure and try to kill the country's leadership.
