‘Decisions Will Be Made in Warsaw and Only in Warsaw’ – Ukraine at War Update for Dec. 13

US President-elect Donald Trump has expressed that Europe should be responsible for sending troops to Ukraine to support a ceasefire, not the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

After meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris for the re-opening of the restored Norte Dame Cathedral last weekend, the once and future US commander-in-chief reportedly let it be known that US troops would not be part of any peacekeeping team. He said the protection and support of Ukraine should be a priority for European countries alone.

According to reports, Trump, whom Time magazine named as “Person of the Year” on Thursday, also said that Europe should use its political influence to put pressure on Beijing to stop supporting Moscow in its nearly three-year invasion of Ukraine.

(Time’s much-awaited selection for its annual cover story does not imply any suggestions of positive qualities, just that he or she is the year’s biggest newsmaker. Past selections for “Man of the Year” and later, “Person of the Year,” have included Adolf Hitler in 1938, Josef Stalin in 1939, and Vladimir Putin in 2007.)

The newly elected US leader has been vocal about his intentions to impose major tariffs on Chinese imports unless certain conditions are met. He has suggested that European countries at least threaten the same if the Chinese leadership does not agree to a forthcoming peace settlement outlined by Kyiv’s Western allies.

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British Defence Intelligence Update Ukraine 17 December 2024

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

A political scientist interviewed by RBC-Ukraine said that Western experts have estimated that a peacekeeping force in Ukraine during a ceasefire could number about 40,000 troops.

While Trump repeated the claim during his presidential candidacy this year that Europe has not “paid its fair share” to defend Ukraine, recent calculations have indicated otherwise.

A new study of foreign assistance to Ukraine published by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy on Dec. 5 found that since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the value of allocated American military assistance to Ukraine to date is equivalent to $63 billion. Total US assistance to Ukraine, including financial aid and support to refugees, ending in October 2024 was $83 billion.

Other states’ combined allocated military assistance to Ukraine was $58 billion over the same period, about 8 percent less than the US, while total European assistance to Ukraine, exclusive of refugee support, was $131 billion, more than the US contribution by a bit more than a third, the report said.

Polish PM says that Warsaw will decide if it will send troops to Ukraine, not Trump

As relayed by Politico, Polish media is reporting that Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk is not ready to follow suit with Trump’s demands that European countries deploy thousands of troops to Ukraine as part of a potential cease-fire deal to end the war with Russia.

“I want to cut short speculation on the presence of troops from this or that country in Ukraine after a possible peace agreement or in the case of a cease-fire,” Tusk told reporters during a surprise visit by French President Emmanuel Macron.

On Wednesday, Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported that leadership of European forces, spearheaded by France and Poland, would be discussing sending the requisite peacekeeping forces to Ukraine.

“The [incoming] Trump administration has shown its will to change the trajectory of the conflict, and we must work with Ukraine and Europe, to take into account European and Ukrainian interests,” Macron said.

Tusk said that Poland had not yet decided where it stands on all of this.

“We discussed it, and decisions on any actions will be made in Warsaw, only in Warsaw. And for the moment nothing like that is planned,” the Polish prime minister said.

Washington approves more than $440M for Ukrainian agriculture and economy in general

Richard Verma, US Deputy Secretary of State, said at a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Thursday that the administration of US President Joe Biden will soon allocate more than $440 million to support agriculture, reconstruction and economic activity in Ukraine.

Verma said that the president, in cooperation with the Republican-led US Congress, is set to approve an additional $74.7 million to support export-oriented agriculture, enabling Ukrainian farmers and processors to play a greater role in rebuilding Ukraine’s economy. Additionally, a line item of some $223 million will go towards restoring Ukraine’s transportation infrastructure.

Also, some of the funds will be set aside to renovate border crossing points with EU countries, ports on the Black Sea and Danube, and upgrading railway sections in border areas and “enhancing Ukraine’s capacity to export goods to the European Union,” Ukrainska Pravda reported, explaining that the imminent allocations are part of the G7’s plan $50 billion loan to Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, and “will be repaid using a windfall tax on profits derived” from said assets.