The power of Donald Trump is immense. He won by a considerable margin over Kamala Harris, and Republicans now have majorities in the Senate, Congress and the Supreme Court. He is the most powerful man in the country and the most powerful in the world. He does not play in the same league as Vladimir Putin, even with his North Korean soldiers and his capacity for nuisance inherited from the KGB. Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin behaves towards Trump as if he were the strong man. He only congratulated him on the third day after his election, and again, not directly, but during a press conference. As for his close advisor Patrushev, he declared that Trump owed his election in 2016 to Russian aid, and that the time has come to give back to the Russian regime.
Even more troubling, the American president-elect wants to surround himself with people who sympathize with Russia and who are “in tune” with traditional values and the Kremlin’s conspiracies. Robert Kennedy Jr., conspiracy theorist and anti-vax, is appointed to lead the equivalent of our Department of Health. Matt Gaetz, whom Trump wants to put at the helm of the Department of Justice, has a divisive personality and a heavy legal history, he is misogynist, anti-Semitic and conspiratorial, without legal training. Pete Hegseth, nominated for secretary of defense, is a Fox News anchor who defends war criminals and displays tattoos associated with white supremacy. Its objective is to “dewokize” the army, which clearly means that a witch hunt is coming among the senior officers. Finally, Tulsi Gabbard, who spreads Syrian and Russian disinformation (propagandist Vladimir Soloviev calls her “our friend Tulsi”), will direct the intelligence services. The icing on the cake, billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will be at the helm of a new structure aimed at transforming the American state into a gigantic company where the primary criterion will be efficiency and profitability, at the expense of the weak, the sick, unemployed, homeless.
All these beautiful people consider that investment in the war in Ukraine is useless. Even Senator Marco Rubio, a hawk hostile to China and Iran, and who is appointed head of American diplomacy, speaks out against aid to Ukraine, which makes the latter’s situation much more precarious than in the past. Vladimir Zelensky himself is trying to seduce Trump by offering him, in exchange for a firm position against the Russians, a sharing of Ukrainian wealth, or even the sending of Ukrainian soldiers to Europe to replace the Americans there. But if we start talking business instead of talking values, Russia, unfortunately, will always have much more to offer than Ukraine to seduce the mercantile Trump. We are facing a kind of revolution in the United States which risks causing the dismantling of democracy and justice in favor of a dictatorship.
However, all is not yet lost. The nomination of the people mentioned must be confirmed by the Senate where, alongside the Democrats, there are a certain number of Republicans who do not belong to the MAGA wing. If they vote against Trump’s candidacies, perhaps it will tip him toward more reasonable choices.
But the biggest role in improving Ukrainian positions in anticipation of negotiations that could be imposed by Trump must be played by outgoing President Joe Biden, who still has two months to go. What can he do?
First, transfer to Ukraine everything that was voted by Congress in April 2024, namely funds and weapons. To date, only half of the total package of nearly $60 billion has been delivered. Promises along these lines have been made, but they must be executed before January 20, which could be completely sabotaged. The outgoing president must use all his powers to achieve this goal.
Second, Biden must lift restrictions that do not allow Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russian territory. Currently, the two countries, Ukraine and Russia, are in an asymmetrical situation: Russia strikes Ukraine from its territory, but Ukraine cannot respond. If Biden makes this move, several European countries will follow, including Britain first and foremost, but perhaps also France, Germany, Poland and others.
Certain measures could be added to these, such as the authorization to use the funds of the Russian Central Bank frozen for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and in particular the reconstruction of its energy infrastructure destroyed by more than 80% by the Russian army. Or the imposition of tough sanctions on the energy sector, including the transportation of oil by Russian tankers operating under a false flag. Biden could finally add Russia to the list of state “sponsors of terrorism”, which would be perfectly legitimate, given the Kremlin’s support for Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Taliban and, of course, because of terrorist terrorism. State exercised against the Ukrainian civilian population and the country’s vital infrastructure. This latest measure could further isolate Russia on the international stage.
Will Joe Biden and his advisors have the audacity to take such measures? Will reasonable Conservatives dare to vote against Trump’s proposed nominations and face the wrath of a vindictive president, who is already talking about the coming fight against “domestic enemies”? In fact, Ukraine’s greatest hope is Europe — an island of humanism and democracy in an increasingly uncertain world. Despite our dissensions, our only chance to remain ourselves, free men and women, is to help Ukraine, at all costs.
