Trump can’t let Ukraine be his Afghanistan

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring a swift end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict in his second term, but it remains unclear what exactly he means to do. His Cabinet appointees are an eclectic mix of national security hawks and skeptics, and Trump himself seems far more focused on competition with the Chinese Communist Party than European affairs. At this point, practically anything could be on the table for the incoming administration.

One thing that Trump should absolutely do, though, is avoid the mistakes of his immediate predecessor. President Joe Biden’s hasty retreat from Afghanistan was probably the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of a presidency marked by countless mistakes. Biden was motivated by a desire to be seen as a president who could end a war, but his choices, in fact, consistently signaled weakness. America’s enemies understood that the Democrat was unwilling to deter their aggression — and they declared open season on the U.S.-led global order. The chaos stretching from Kharkiv to the Red Sea can be traced directly back to Biden’s decision to surrender Afghanistan to the Taliban.

If Trump reduces American support for Ukraine or cuts it off completely, he would be sending the exact same message to America’s enemies that Biden sent in 2021. Simply giving up on allies should not be a live option. Instead, the new administration needs to put the “peace through strength” principle it avows into action. Trump’s top priority here should be showing the world that America will no longer cut and run from its allies. 

Any strategy for ending the war must begin from the unfortunate truth that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no intention of stopping his invasion any time soon. In late November, for instance, he launched a new type of ballistic missile on Dnipro — a clear step up the escalation ladder and an implied threat to go further. Putin’s deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers on the front lines and use of Iranian weapons technology also demonstrate his willingness to expand the war from a regional conflict to a truly global affair. This aggression is not a problem that can be isolated if Trump gives Putin an easy victory.

Read more in the Washington Examiner.