Ukraine seeks Trump's support with economic incentives

Kiev aims to convince Trump that Ukraine is not a financial burden, but an economically and geopolitically profitable investment, which will ultimately enrich and secure the United States and its interests. Ukraine hopes that by leveraging Trump's transactional approach to diplomacy — including offering lucrative business opportunities to American companies — the new president will help halt Russian advances.

According to the "Washington Post", hopes persist among officials that Trump will help end the war on terms favourable to Kiev despite Trump and many in his circle believing that the conflict costs American taxpayers too much and should be resolved quickly. Such statements have raised concerns that Trump might suddenly halt military support for Ukraine and press for territorial concessions to Russia.

However, officials in Kyiv expressed frustration with the slow pace of assistance from the Biden administration. Many Ukrainians overlook recent negative comments from Trump, focusing instead on the fact that it was Trump who, as the first U.S. president, sold lethal weapons to Ukraine.

During Trump's first term, Ukraine received Javelin missiles — portable anti-tank systems, whose sale had been denied for a long time by the Obama administration. They helped prevent Russian troops from taking the capital at the beginning of 2022. Trump later emphasised these transactions as proof that he was tougher on Vladimir Putin than the Democrats.

"The first weapons that Ukraine received from the United States came from a president who hates Ukraine," said Dmytro Kuleba, who served as Ukraine's foreign minister until September. He added that despite Trump's unpredictability, his presidency could bring positive changes to Ukraine.

To gain Trump's support this time, Kyiv must create "situations when supporting Ukraine will be a projection of Trump’s strengths," said Kuleba. "If his goal is to project strength and to say eventually that ‘I’m better than Biden, that Biden failed and I ended [the war],’ then selling out Ukraine is not the way forward," he added.

Ukrainians perceived the Biden administration's restrained approach to aid as damaging to the U.S.'s credibility as a global security guarantor. In recent weeks, Ukrainians have begun advocating for a new era of U.S. policy towards Ukraine based on the principle of "peace through strength." They hope this message will resonate more with Trump than with Biden.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that Kyiv would need to explain to Trump the political pragmatism of supporting Ukraine. "We need to provide representatives of the Trump administration, and Mr. Trump himself, with the most comprehensive information about the logic of the process," he stated.

"You spend a small amount of money today to support Ukraine — on weapons, finances and so on — investing and producing. You completely nullify Russia’s military potential, and after that, you dominate. I can barely imagine Trump playing along with someone like Putin," he added.

As the American newspaper noted, "a lot has changed" since Trump approved the sending of javelins to Ukraine.

"The president-elect is surrounded by an almost entirely new entourage — including Vice President-elect JD Vance, who as a senator voted against U.S. aid to Ukraine, and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has supported Ukraine with Starlink internet access but also mocked Zelensky and cast doubt on the U.S. role in the war," the paper lists.

The full-scale war has been ongoing in Ukraine for nearly three years. Kyiv demands NATO membership — the military alliance Trump threatened to leave — and Putin, responding to Biden's decisions to ease certain military restrictions on Ukraine, has intensified threats to escalate the war.

Much depends on Zelensky's ability to convince Trump regarding further steps.

"Control of lithium is the control of the future economy," said Volodymyr Vasiuk, a Ukrainian industry expert advising the Ukrainian parliament on economic matters. He said it's better for the West if these materials remain in the hands of a "fairly friendly country like Ukraine."

Vasiuk suggested that Ukraine leverage Trump's business-oriented foreign policy approach and deal with American companies to exploit its resources, especially lithium. The largest such deposit is located in the central part of the country, far from the current front lines.

Vasiuk noted that the country has enough lithium to produce 15 million car batteries, although one deposit is already under Russian occupation and another is close to the front lines.

Oleksii Chernyshov, president of the state-owned NaftoGaz, said the Ukrainian gas market is the most profitable in the world. He will soon travel to the United States to meet with American companies. "I’m confident U.S. companies have a great future in Ukraine now—not tomorrow," he added.

According to him, the Trump administration consists of people with "more business expertise."