David Urban and Mike Pompeo lay out a strong case for peace in Ukraine (“A Trump Peace Plan for Ukraine,” op-ed, July 26). But what about the postwar rebuilding of a devastated Ukraine, which could cost a trillion dollars? There is no appetite at home—or in Europe—to use tax dollars to finance Kyiv’s reconstruction. So how would a president Trump revive an economically prostrate Ukraine, so that it can pay for its own recovery and defense needs?
In his first term, Mr. Trump understood that hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign-aid spending led to failures in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina and left other war-torn countries poor, hungry and unstable. He sought deep cuts to the foreign-aid budget and replaced traditional, grant-based aid with initiatives to expand trade and increase investment from America’s massive private capital markets.
A successful recovery plan for Ukraine should be based on the same principles: Require Kyiv to privatize or liquidate its corruption-inducing and budget-draining 3,500 state-owned enterprises. Encourage Ukraine to open up its energy, agricultural, technology and defense sectors to U.S. investors. Implement stalled economic reforms blocking billions of dollars in Ukrainian capital from being invested at home.
This piece originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal on August 5th, 2024