Additional funding and future aid to Ukraine is set to be a major topic of discussion Wednesday night in Milwaukee as the Republican National Convention turns its focus to national security and foreign policy.
The theme at the RNC Wednesday night is "Make America Strong Once Again," and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is set to speak publicly for the first time since being selected as former President Donald Trump's 2024 running mate.
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Given Vance's opposition to sending additional aid and military assistance to Ukraine, the speech will surely leave people like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wondering what the future may hold in terms of U.S. support for his country's war with Russia if a Trump-Vance administration takes control of the White House.
In his speech Wednesday night, Vance may make the argument that U.S. commitment to the war in Ukraine is making America weaker by distracting its national security focus away from threats posed by other foreign adversaries like China.
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The Ukrainians, meanwhile, have been working to show that the new weapons they've been receiving from the U.S. and NATO allies are making a difference on the battlefield, in an attempt to counter the prevailing narrative that the war is at a stalemate.
While a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the coming weeks and months does not seem likely, Scripps News international correspondent Jason Bellini notes that Ukraine is very creative when it comes to finding ways to fight back, and the possibility of a Trump presidency could raise their urgency to pull off something big.
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Without explaining precisely how, Trump has previously said that if he is elected president again he will end the conflict in Ukraine. By all indications — including Trump's own word — that could mean pressuring Ukraine to negotiate an agreement with Russia, which could result in surrendering large swaths of Ukrainian territory. However, if Putin refuses to come to the negotiating table, that could put the U.S. in a position to double-down on its weapons deliveries to Ukraine.
