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In a wide ranging interview with MSNBC on Dec. 19, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the prospects for a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, as well as support for the embattled country ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in January.”I want to make sure that we’re giving the incoming administration and the Ukrainians the strongest possible hand to play going into 2025,” Blinken said in an interview on MSNBC Morning Joe. “Ukrainians have to make fundamental decisions about carrying on the fight or looking to negotiate and try to bring this to a ceasefire. The fundamental question is whether Russia is prepared to do that and to do that in good faith.””If it moves to that, we want to make sure that the Ukrainians and the Trump administration have the best hand to play to cut the strongest possible deal. And that means trying to reinforce Ukraine’s position on the battlefield,” Blinken added.The outgoing official’s comments come as Trump has pledged to get the U.S. “out” of Russia’s war and negotiate a quick peace deal. Ukrainian officials have urged the president-elect to maintain support and adopt a “peace through strength” approach in dealings with RussiaThe Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 12, citing undisclosed official sources, that Trump wants European troops to monitor a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump reportedly made the comments during his Dec. 7 meeting with Zelensky and French President Macron in Paris.”If this gets to a place where there is a ceasefire, and it’s a ceasefire that’s on just and durable terms, that would be a good thing. But for it to be durable, there has to be some kind of assurance that Russia is not simply going to rest, refit, and reattack,” Blinken added during the interview.During a visit to Brussels to meet with European leaders on Dec. 19, President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the idea of freezing the conflict without effective security guarantees, adding that doing so would “buy time” for Russia to regroup ahead of another attack.On Dec. 18, Zelensky said he was “discussing ideas with European leaders” on the potential deployment of European peacekeeping forces to the embattled country.On Dec. 13, Andriy Yermak, head of the Presidential Office, said that Kyiv is not prepared to enter negotiations with Russia as it lacks sufficient Western support to engage from a position of strength.US may not be able to send remaining $5.6bn in military aid to Ukraine before Trump takes office, NYT reportsAlthough the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden plans to allocate some funds from the presidential drawdown authority, it is unlikely to spend the whole amount.
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