Trump sees Ukraine as partner with business potential – expert
Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Daniel Runde, shared this opinion in a comment to Ukrinform on the sidelines of the Ukraine Action Summit in Washington.
“I think that President Trump looks at Ukraine as an enormous business opportunity, and we should all look at Ukraine as a business opportunity, whether it’s minerals, whether it’s potentially energy, whether it’s potentially the creative economy, whether it’s potentially mil tech, whether it’s manufacturing, or whether it’s agriculture,” the expert noted.
He emphasized that Ukraine is “ one of the great prospects of our time,” and that the current U.S. administration perceives the situation accordingly. This, according to Runde, has influenced how Trump now views the war in Ukraine.
In this context, the CSIS Senior Advisor pointed to changes in the Trump administration’s approach toward Russia, including the introduction of serious sanctions against key oil companies. He recalled that the U.S. President had repeatedly “extended his hand for peace” with Putin, but the latter rejected these gestures, while Ukraine consistently demonstrated its readiness to be a partner in peace initiatives.
“So, President Trump sees that Ukraine and President Zelensky are working for peace. And so he also sees Ukraine as a great opportunity,” Runde said.
In his opinion, these developments have helped shift perspectives within the administration in Washington.
When asked to comment on the prospects of Ukraine receiving long-range missiles from the United States, the CSIS representative explained that Trump has not ruled out such a scenario but has “put it here on the shelf.” According to him, the U.S. President may revisit it, considering that Ukraine already possesses German, British, and domestically produced missile systems.
It should be noted that CSIS is an influential bipartisan think tank that develops and promotes practical policy ideas to address the world’s most pressing challenges within the U.S. administration, Congress, and the expert community.
Photo: CSIS
