Russia’s war in Ukraine is entering what the New York Times has described as “the last act of the drama” with two months to go until Donald Trump, who campaigned for the election and promised to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, end the war within “24 hours”.
Russian satisfaction
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with state media published Sunday that “signs are positive” following Trump’s re-election. Indeed, as Trump’s vague Ukraine policy begins to take shape, he appears set to cut aid to Kiev after announcing that neither former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley nor former Secretary Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, both of whom have been strong supporters of Ukraine.
Additionally, it is telling that Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., shared on social media a video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with the scathing caption: “POV: When your allowance runs out.”
Biden’s latest actions
Under these circumstances, many are waiting to see what Joe Biden’s final actions will be in the short time he has left as president.
One of those was last Friday, when he lifted a de facto ban on the deployment on Ukrainian soil of US military trainers and operators to help the country’s military maintain and repair US-supplied weapons systems. The move allows the Pentagon to award contracts to US companies to work inside Ukraine for the first time since Russia invaded in 2022.
In the meantime, on Wednesday (11/13), the outgoing president is expected to meet with the newly elected Donald Trump at the White House, to discuss the need not to cut off funding to Ukraine and general foreign policy issues.
In the same vein, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a televised interview this week that Biden will use his final 70 days to tell Trump and Congress (both houses of which will likely be Republican-controlled control), that “the United States should not leave Ukraine – leaving Ukraine means more instability in Europe”.
Time is running out for the Ukrainians
Of course, the obstacles for Zelenksi and his goals are enormous. Besides, Trump made it clear during his election campaign that his priority is to cut off aid to Kiev and seal a deal between Zelensky and Vladimir Putin as soon as possible, even if it comes at the cost of ceding Ukrainian territory in Russia, the Ukrainian president is called to face the bad image at the front. While Russia is steadily advancing in eastern Ukraine, it is reported by international media to be preparing a new offensive on the southern front, in Zaporizhia, while Ukrainian forces are trying tooth and nail to hold on to the Russian territories they have seized in Kursk.
The image from the front
Russia, from last August until now, has been advancing on Ukrainian territory at its fastest pace since 2022, despite the heavy losses it has suffered.
The invasion of the Russian province of Kursk, which began this summer, is a personal bet for President Zelensky, and on the success of the operation depends not only his own political fate but also that of his country. Showing that Russia is vulnerable and that Russian soil is also under threat is one of the five points of the “victory plan” he presented to his international allies to improve the situation on the front and to achieve future peace negotiations from position of greater power.
Correspondents from Kursk describe how in the short time it has left, Ukraine continues its aggressive initiative on Russian soil. The US Institute for the Study of War said on Friday that Ukrainian troops had advanced and captured yet another village in Russia, an action that would be “unthinkable for Ukrainian troops on the front lines of the war inside Ukraine,” according to CNN.
However, in Kursk as well, Russia has retaken a third of the territory seized by the Ukrainian army, although it is making modest progress compared to its current progress in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.
But since the Kremlin does not want to “put the brakes” on Donetsk, it chose its alliance with North Korea to strengthen the defense of Kursk without weakening the position of Russian troops on other fronts. NATO, the US, South Korea and Ukraine estimate that around 11,000 North Korean troops are taking part in the fighting in Kursk, with military analysts detailing in Forbes and the New York Times that North Korean troops are fighting on the front lines.
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