Trump's plan to end Ukraine war: Neutrality and demilitarised zone

Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance revealed details of Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine. Among the provisions would be creating a demilitarised zone along the "current line of demarcation" and giving Russia the guarantee of Kyiv’s neutrality.

During an interview for the right-wing podcast "Shawn Ryan Show," hosted by a special forces veteran, the Republican vice-presidential candidate described what a potential agreement to end the war in Ukraine would look like. The host asked him directly how Trump plans to fulfil his promise to end the conflict even as president-elect.

– So I think it goes like this: Trump sits down, says to the Russians, to the Ukrainians, to the Europeans, you guys need to figure out what a peaceful settlement looks like. And it will probably look roughly the same as the current dividing line between Russia and Ukraine. It will become like a demilitarized zone. It will be strongly fortified so that the Russians do not invade again. Ukraine retains its independent sovereignty. Russia receives a guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine, it does not join NATO, it does not join any allied institutions – Vance replied.

It is worth noting that this statement was the most concrete outline of a plan to end the war that representatives of Donald Trump’s campaign have presented so far. The former president of the United States has from the beginning refused to give details of his plan, arguing that if he did, it would jeopardise his chances.

J.D. Vance also added that Germany and other countries would have the task of financing the reconstruction of Ukraine. According to the senator from Ohio, Trump would quickly end the war because Russia fears him, and Europe worries because what he says, he says seriously.

He explained that Trump can cooperate with "bad guys". – He noted that sometimes the leaders must communicate with lunatics and bad people. In the Second World War, US allied with Joseph Stalin, as he commented.

The vice-presidential candidate also said that he has no doubt that the war in Ukraine is largely a conflict over Ukrainian natural resources and gas. He also mocked those who consider Russia to be the bad side and Ukraine to be the good side of the conflict.

Washington Post reports that "Vance, in his interview with Ryan, said it was 'fake' and 'wrong' to consider the conflict 'the great humanitarian mission of our time,' adding that it’s a 'fairy-tale mindset' to consider the war a battle between 'good versus evil.' During the interview, he also said that Russia 'should not have invaded' Ukraine, but that 'Ukrainians have got a lot of corruption problems, too.'" He also suggested that the conflict continues because American arms companies and financial institutions profit from it.