The Clock Is Ticking Toward Ukraine’s Darkest Hour

Ronan Nauert

Dec 5, 20243 min read

“Tick-tock”

As I sit here, writing this article, the large clock behind me loudly tick-tocks. The sound, admittedly irritating and distracting, serves as a fitting metaphor for the topic of my article: the ever-present war in Ukraine.

The new President-Elect, Donald Trump has essentially pledged to cede Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory to Russia. In fact, the so-called “peace plan” laid out by Vice President-Elect JD Vance is almost the exact same “peace plan” laid out by Vladimir Putin. Put simply, all of the work the Biden Administration has done over the last 2 years to help Ukraine, could be void in a matter of days.

Trump, Vance, and their cabal of Putin sympathizers would tell you that financially supporting Ukraine is not worth it to American taxpayers, going against their “America First” principles. This way of thinking goes against our American values and harms our own security in the long term.

While this war, for now, is only about Ukraine, we would be mistaken to think that Putin, emboldened by winning the Ukraine war, would stop there. Putin’s goal since day one of this war has been to stop the expansion of NATO and democracy in Europe.

Trump’s plan would set a new precedent that, in effect, sends the signal to our allies that we will not defend them, and that, after all, it is perfectly fine to viscously invade a country and commit war crimes. If Putin does try to invade one of our European NATO allies, he will be dragging the United States into what would likely become a world war. It seems as if the Former President would rather give up and quit.

He would put friendship with a dictator before the national security interests of our Country.

While I am truly concerned with the future of Ukraine, there is some good news and some reason to believe that Trump may be less pro-Russia than initially thought.

For one, President Biden seems to be preparing for Trump’s return to the White House, arming Ukraine rapidly, and now approving the use of long-range US weapons in Russia. Furthermore, Trump’s newly named special envoy to the war is seemingly more pro-Ukraine than Trump, although he still says he wants Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire. Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, Senator Marco Rubio, takes a similar stance, saying he wants a ceasefire but is a supporter of Ukraine.

Talking more about President Biden, while I am critical of his political decision-making to run for re-election, he was an incredible President, and I believe that his commitment to Ukraine and NATO will be a crucial part of his legacy as President. Not only did Biden work to give US money and arms to Ukraine, but he also worked with our allies around the world to create an effective defense.

While I want to be hopeful, the reality is grim. It seems more obvious each day that the war will soon come to a devastating conclusion for Ukraine. Yet, the clock continues its relentless ticking, each "tick-tock” bringing us closer to January 20th, a day destined to be one of mourning in Ukraine and a sobering day for defenders of democracy around the world.