Key decisions that will drive Ukraine’s future are being made as Republicans flock to Mar-a-Lago. However, inexplicably, supporters of Ukraine, including the Ukrainian government, have decided to sit out the decision-making process.
Rather than be heard as the development of US-Ukraine relations is debated, or while future-cabinet members are selected, Ukraine’s voice is silent, causing one to wonder: Where is Team Ukraine?
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President Zelensky’s initial reaction to Trump’s victory was to recall their meeting, this past September, during which the two leaders discussed how to “put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine,” continuing with praise for his American counterpart: “Trump’s commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer.”
Now more than a week has passed. Ukraine has failed to follow up with actions to keep Ukraine’s perspective at the forefront of the Trump Team’s decision-making.
A look at conservative television shows a stunning dearth of Ukrainian foreign policy officials or their surrogates. Equally, a glance at conservative news sources belies the fact that Ukraine’s allies are not attempting to reach-out to America’s next president.
According to people at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, DC I have spoken with, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the US spent the past two-and-a-half years closely aligning herself with Democrats and openly ignored Republicans.
Ukrainian Naivety is Both Good and Bad
Worse is that Kyiv has ignored the demands of the Republican Speaker of the House to recall Ambassador Oksana Markarova following her reckless decision to bring President Zelensky to a Harris-for-President event at a Scranton, Pennsylvania ammunition factory two months ago, to which no Republicans were invited. Thanks to her own efforts, discrediting US-Ukraine relations, the ambassador has been blackballed from playing any role in improving future bilateral relations and must be replaced urgently.
Unfortunately, many Ukraine supporters continue to burn through political capital and instead of trying to find how to engage Trump’s posse they moan about why they would have preferred a different candidate, further promoting the false narrative that “Ukraine is a Democrat issue.” They also ignore the fact that Trump’s initial picks for top slots have been politicos who recognize the threat Russia poses to not just Ukraine, but to the United States.
Trump’s new national security advisor, Representative Mike Waltz, correctly observed on Fox News last month: “China, Russia, and Iran are not trying to ‘compete’ with us. They’re trying to replace us,” echoing Senator Marco Rubio, the future Secretary of State, who earlier has referred to Russia as “China’s junior partner in their anti-US coalition.”
As Barack Obama said, “Elections have consequences,” and thus Trump will be the next US President. For those interested in helping Ukraine, let’s not lose valuable time being observers in the bleachers. Let’s be part of the future to come.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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