Trump’s Plan for the Effective Colonization of Ukraine
Donald Trump’s demand for a $500 billion “payback” from Ukraine amounts to the U.S. economic colonization of the war-torn country.
February 20, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that the United States had spent $300 billion on the war in Ukraine so far.
However, the five aid packages for Ukraine agreed by the U.S. Congress to date total $175 billion.
Of that amount, $70 billion was spent in the United States on weapons production, generating income for U.S. corporations.
While some of the U.S. support has come in the form of humanitarian grants, much of it is lend-lease money that must be repaid.
Even so, it is incomprehensible that the Trump administration is now demanding a $500 billion “payback” from Ukraine.
Trump’s demands go far beyond U.S. control over Ukraine’s critical minerals.
The U.S. proposal covers everything from ports and infrastructure to oil and gas — and the larger resource base of the country.
The terms of the contract are effectively considered to amount to the U.S. economic colonization of Ukraine — and that in legal perpetuity.
Moreover, it implies a burden of reparations that cannot possibly be achieved. The terms that Ukraine finds itself confronted with are normally imposed on aggressor states defeated in war.
Indeed, Trump’s proposed commercial terms are worse than the financial penalties imposed on Germany and Japan after their defeat in 1945.
Germany and Japan were ultimately net recipients of funds from the victorious allies. This approach helped them greatly to regain their economic strength and overall viability as peaceful nations.
Astonishingly, if the Trump February 2025 draft had been accepted, his demands would have amounted to a higher share of Ukrainian GDP than reparations imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty (1919). (Those were later whittled down at the London Conference in 1921, and by the Dawes Plan in 1924).
President Zelensky rejected the offer.
Sources: The Telegraph, Council on Foreign Relations, Kyiv Post, Reuters
Takeaways
Trump has claimed that the U.S. had spent $300 billion on the war in Ukraine so far. However, the five aid packages for Ukraine agreed by the U.S. Congress to date total $175 billion.
Of the $175 billion agreed by the U.S. Congress for Ukraine to date, $70 billion was spent in the U.S. on weapons production, generating income for U.S. corporations.
Trump’s demand for a $500 billion "payback" from Ukraine amounts to the U.S. economic colonization of the war-torn country.
Trump’s demands go far beyond U.S. control over Ukraine’s critical minerals. The U.S. proposal covers everything from ports and infrastructure to oil and gas.
The terms that Ukraine finds itself confronted with are normally imposed on aggressor states defeated in war. Indeed, Trump’s proposed commercial terms are worse than the financial penalties imposed on Germany and Japan after their defeat in 1945.
