Ukraine has an “important trump card” in negotiations to end the war, which could be decisive for winning Trump to its side: Welt

Oksana17.11.2024

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Ukraine has an “important trump card” of influence that can significantly contribute to attracting Donald Trump to its side in efforts to stop the war. This lever is present in the “Victory Plan”, which the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky handed over to the allies. This is reported by the publication World.

As reported, Kyiv is concerned about the possible unpredictability of Trump’s policy regarding the end of the war in Ukraine, so Zelensky is actively looking for ways to establish contact with the American politician. According to government sources, Zelensky wants to find an approach to Trump and already in September at a meeting in New York discussed some aspects of this plan.

One of the main points was to give Trump potential control over investments in Ukraine, while excluding China from this process. The logic of this is to prevent Beijing from gaining access to Ukraine’s strategic resources.

According to insiders, Zelensky was advised to focus on the threat from China, noting that the Ukrainian conflict is part of a broader strategic challenge. In particular, it is emphasized that “the Indo-Pacific theater of war begins in Ukraine”, which emphasizes the strategic importance of the country as part of the wider geopolitical picture. This is of particular importance, because Ukraine has offered its Western partners the right of priority access to its natural resources, which can strengthen the position of its allies and strengthen their influence in the region.

Another important element of the Ukrainian strategy was the proposal to replace American troops in Europe with Ukrainian units. In the past, the cost of supporting American troops in Europe has been a key issue for Trump, and this initiative may find support from his side.

See also From next year, Ukrainian teachers will receive an additional UAH 1,000 per month to their basic salary. This was announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, summarising the results of the government meeting. From September 2025 the size of this additional payment will be increased to 2000 UAH. "From 1 January 2025 we introduce a monthly “teacher's supplement” to the salary of teachers in the amount of 1000 UAH “per hand”, - said Shmygal. From 1 September next year, this amount will increase to 2000 UAH for each teacher. The decision was made in fulfilment of the President's instruction to support teachers who shape the future of Ukraine. The Ministry of Education specified that from 1 January teachers will receive an additional 1000 UAH ‘on hand’ (1300 UAH before taxation), and from September - 2000 UAH (2600 UAH before taxation). The additional payment will be received by teachers of state and municipal schools, and it will be valid until the end of martial law, with the possibility of extension for the whole year, when it will be cancelled. In order to implement the law ‘On Education’ to increase the salaries of teachers to the level of three minimum wages, we need additional funding of more than 300 billion UAH. The MES recalled that due to budget constraints and the need for international loans, the introduction of this norm is postponed from 2019. On 25 October, President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the government to start a support programme for the population, which provides for a payment of 1000 UAH per person. The programme is planned to be launched from 1 December. On 29 October, Prime Minister Shmygal said that the programme is part of a wider winter support package. Additional measures include winter subsidies matching last year's amounts and an expanded Affordable Medicines Programme. Households heating their homes with wood, coal or other solid fuels will receive a lump-sum allowance of up to UAH 21,000, covering about 500,000 families.

“For Zelensky, much will depend on the success of this strategy in the coming weeks. Once the war ends, regardless of a good or bad deal for Ukraine, he will have to hold presidential elections, which have been postponed since May of this year. Crucial to his political future will be , whether the agreement will be better than the draft agreement agreed during the peace talks in Istanbul in April 2022… At that time, Kyiv was ready to make major concessions to end the war.” – it is said in the material of the publication.

Oksana17.11.2024

0 119 2 minutes read