By Milan Varda
Ukraine currently enjoys the support of the US, but it is unclear if that support will remain should Donald Trump win the presidency. With J.D. Vance being his running mate, the prospective support for Ukraine is even more questionable. It would be wise for Ukraine to have a contingency measure in case Trump becomes the President of the United States. This brief Op-Ed piece will present how American support can be ensured even if Trump were to become the President of the United States. In order to ensure American support even in such a scenario, Ukraine should focus on facilitating the evangelical solidarity between Ukrainian and American evangelicals.
During the war in Ukraine, Russia has been overly aggressive towards evangelicals, both within its internationally recognized borders and in the Ukraine. Russia perceives evangelicals in Ukraine as enemies because evangelicalism is considered to be American faith. This kind of faith, the Russian belief goes, is an existential threat to the so-called Russian World based on traditional Eurasian values. This, in turn, leads to Russia’s radical treatment of evangelicals from the so-called Russian World. Suffrage of Ukrainian evangelicals is ongoing, and there does not seem to be an end in sight as long as Russia controls parts of Ukrainian land.
Evangelicals, however, have a wholly different position in the US. Evangelicals compose a significant part of the republican base and have a powerful effect on the US foreign policy, especially towards Israel. This large demographic group has a great influence on US elections, and winning evangelical votes is vital for Republicans. For example, Trump’s 2016 victory was largely a result of major support among evangelicals. Donald Trump’s popular support in the 2024 elections heavily depends on evangelical support. In order to maintain said support, Trump will have to give in to his base, and that is where Ukraine can step up its game.
Ukraine could ensure American support even if Trump were to win by gaining support from his base, the evangelical Christians. Seeing that members of the same group are facing an existential threat in Ukraine simply for being evangelicals is likely to lead to evangelical solidarity among American evangelical Christians. In fact, the brutality against Ukrainian evangelicals is what has allegedly changed Mike Johnson’s position on sending Ukraine aid. By focusing its diplomacy on evangelical solidarity, Ukraine could ensure large support among American evangelicals, and, through such support, maintain the continuity of American aid to Ukraine in case Donald Trump becomes the President.
This support can be assured by using a three-layered approach. Firstly, Ukraine needs to focus diplomacy on lobbying. Targets of this lobbying need to be major religious leaders, popular televangelists, as well as politicians, more specifically congressmen and senators whose re-elections are heavily dependent upon their evangelical base. Secondly, Ukraine needs to facilitate communication between evangelicals in Ukraine and evangelicals in the United States. Finally, Ukraine needs to focus on a public campaign by being vocal about evangelical victims of Russia’s war tailoring the campaign so that this news reaches evangelical Christians in the United States.
If Ukraine were to focus its lobbying towards evangelical religious leaders and politicians, facilitating communication between Ukrainian and American evangelicals and being more vocal about the woes of its evangelical citizens, it could attract attention and empathy from fellow American evangelicals. In this manner, Ukraine could garner more support among Republicans and therefore, through evangelical solidarity, ensure American support remains even in case of Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential elections.
