In recent months of his presidency, U.S. President Joe Biden has been working to strengthen Ukraine's position against Russia. This comes in light of Donald Trump's promise to swiftly end the war upon his arrival in the White House in January.
This was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing Bloomberg.
Among Biden's latest actions, the publication notes the approval for Kyiv to strike military targets deep within Russian territory, which was immediately interpreted by Moscow and the camp of the elected U.S. President Donald Trump as an unnecessary escalation.
Additionally, this week the White House approved the supply of anti-personnel mines, wrote off nearly $5 billion in debt, and imposed sanctions on a major Russian bank that processes payments for natural gas sales.
According to a source familiar with the U.S. position, these steps, along with others under consideration, are part of Biden's plan to do as much as possible to bolster Ukraine before Trump takes office. As Bloomberg reports, the Republican's statements about quickly ending the war likely imply a resolution through negotiations.
A source from the publication indicated that the strategy aims to assist President Volodymyr Zelensky by demonstrating that Ukraine has the potential to respond against Russia if it continues its military actions.
This does not mean that Biden's recent actions will be entirely unwelcome to Trump, who could leverage a stronger Ukraine as a bargaining chip to achieve a resolution that he could present as a victory. On the contrary, some of the decisions may actually benefit the Republican, said Shelby Magid, who is the deputy director of the Eurasian Center at the Atlantic Council.
"Some decisions that Biden is making now might help Trump, likely putting him in a more advantageous position to end the war, while positioning Ukraine better for any negotiations," she stated.
Recall that recently in a comment to RBK-Ukraine, the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, Dmytro Zhmailyo, stated that Biden, before the end of his presidential term, besides political statements, has the opportunity to approve the start of negotiations for Ukraine's NATO membership.