Trump has stated multiple times that he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. The war, which many conservatives feel has been over-funded by the Biden administration, appears to be high on Trump’s priority list.
On Sunday he called for an immediate ceasefire, urging Russian President Vladimir to take the steps to make it happen. “Too many lives are being needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
The remarks came after a Saturday meeting in Kiev between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron.
You've got to give something to get something
Ken Blackwell is the Family Research Council’s senior fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance. Appearing on Washington Watch Monday, he said quick action on ending the war is possible – but not unless both sides understand they’re going to give up something.
“There's going to have to be some immediate give on the Ukraine side as it relates to Crimea. But I think what we have to bring is an assurance for the 1994 Budapest Accords where we told Ukraine if they gave up their stockpile of nuclear weapons we would, in fact, give them security from Russian aggression,” Blackwell told show host Tony Perkins.
Russia originally invaded Crimea, a part of Ukraine, in 2014 and has occupied it since that time. Russian special forces, without uniform insignia, took control of Crimea’s government buildings on Feb. 27 of that year. On March 16, a referendum was held in which 95% of Crimean voters allegedly supported reunification with Russia. Crimea was previously part of the Soviet Union. The legitimacy of that referendum has been questioned by the international community.
One of Trump’s primary domestic goals – energy dominance – could, in fact, smooth the path to peace in Ukraine, Blackwell argued. Trump has said he wants to increase U.S. energy production for use at home and to export abroad. That could undercut Russia, currently the world’s largest exporter of energy resources. Russia accounts for 10% of global energy production and 16% of international energy trade.
Natural gas is Russia’s primary energy export with 47.7% of gross production coming from gas in 2022.
The net positives of energy dominance
“What we're going to see first is that this president is determined to restore the USA to energy dominance. [If] he does that, that starts to bankrupt the Russians. So, I think there will be economic pressures that will result in Russia's collapse, strengthening the U.S. dollar as the reserve,” Blackwell said.
Increasing energy exports will have an effect not only on Russia but also on China and Iran, Blackwell added.
“I think the other thing that you're going to see from the Trump administration is the strengthening of the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency across the globe. That too will in fact hit the ball back over the net to the bad guys,” Blackwell described.
What can’t be overlooked in Trump’s Ukraine policy – and all his foreign policy, for that matter – is the “spiritual role,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell just returned from a humanitarian trip to Ukraine where he assisted several Christian organizations with their relief efforts. “It was a very long trip but a very meaningful trip for me to see how the human spirit has not been dominated by the mischief and the rage of the Russian attack,” he said.
