Back during his first term, Trump forced the American media to formulate a principle for how he should be understood: “Take him seriously, but not literally.” That’s why all his statements about timelines should be interpreted as: “Something will definitely happen, but what exactly and when—it’s unknown.” In fact, this is exactly what we’ve been observing over the past six months. "The American president can repeat as much as he wants that “this is Biden’s war.” But he is well aware: a complete and unequivocal victory for Russia—the conquest of a large country in the center of Europe by Moscow—would be a huge defeat for the United States and for him personally. A defeat much greater than in Afghanistan or anywhere else in American history, with catastrophic consequences for the United States."It’s not hard to guess that a Russian victory would only strengthen its confidence in the correctness of its chosen path and the acceptability of its methods. Therefore, “after the victory,” it will seek to move further—and will do so very quickly. This will happen while the European military-industrial complex is not yet operating at full capacity, and the combat experience gained by the Russians remains relevant. Moreover, the factories producing Shaheds have not yet been shut down to switch to “peacetime mode”—because where else would you put a thousand drones a month if you don’t launch them every day?So, if the United States is currently facing the question of supplying Ukraine with shells and missiles, in the event of a Russian victory, a different question will arise—about sending American troops to NATO’s eastern borders. And are the United States ready to abandon their obligations within NATO and, in fact, hand over Europe to Russia?That is why it is fundamentally important for Donald Trump that Russia does not win and that Ukraine stands firm. And the further things go, the more the United States will be ready to invest in achieving this goal. For example, for several weeks in a row, the U.S. State Department has been regularly announcing new approved military aid packages for Ukraine: air defense systems, M109 artillery units, HAWK missile systems, and so on.At the moment, it is difficult to predict exactly what actions the United States plans to take after the announced “plus or minus 50-day” period ends. But America definitely does not intend to give up on Ukraine and will increase the volume of aid—of which there is already plenty of evidence today.SourceAbout the author: Mykola Kniazhytskyi, journalist, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament.The editorial board does not always share the views expressed by the authors of blogs or columns.