“The election of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States should be seen as an opportunity, not a threat. The question is whether we can seize this opportunity and how.”

Alyona Getmanchuk, Director of the New Europe Center, spoke at a thematic panel discussion in the joint LB.UA and EFI Group project “New Country,” where she joined Oleksandr Kornienko, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Kostyantyn Yeliseyev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, Pavlo Unguryan, former Member of Parliament, and Ihor Lisky, Chair of the Supervisory Board of EFI Group investment company, to discuss what Donald Trump’s victory means for Ukraine and how to leverage his ambitions.

According to the expert, Trump’s victory seems less dramatic for Ukraine when analyzing the visions of ending the war in Ukraine held by the Republican and Democratic parties, which mostly differ in rhetoric rather than substance.

“Both Democrats and Republicans consider Ukraine’s plan to return to the 1991 borders unrealistic. They do not oppose it, they just believe it is unrealistic. Both sides agree there must be a negotiated settlement — that is, stopping the war. Neither side sees real security guarantees at the stage of this ceasefire. Some representatives of both camps have begun discussions about NATO invitations, but even in their vision, this is not very clearly formulated”, Alyona Getmanchuk explained.

The Director of New Europe stated that today Ukraine’s ally is definitely the American public, and it is necessary to work with it as well.

“If you analyze open and closed polls I have seen, many Americans do not believe Ukraine will win the war or can win it. But when asked who they want to win — Ukraine or Russia — the majority want Ukraine to win. They believe Putin should be somehow punished, put in his place. Trump personally may have his sympathies or may not perceive Russia or Putin as a threat, but there is still this negative perception in society. So these are our allies”, the expert summarized.

More details from the speech are available on LB.ua (in Ukrainian).