Experts assessed how protests against ICE in the United States could affect Ukraine
Donald Trump (Photo: FRANCIS CHUNG/EPA)

Kyiv and Moscow can take advantage of the US president's weakening Donald Trump due to the situation with violence by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and protests against it, said expert Oleksandr Motyl. The fall in the politician's popularity could influence congressmen on the issue of Ukraine, said expert Jonathan Rauch. At the same time, the American leader himself may try to divert attention from domestic problems through foreign policy, said researcher Volodymyr Dubovyk. They spoke about these options for text by LIGA.net.

Motyl, a political science professor at Rutgers University, believes that there is no connection between the US president's attention to Ukraine and domestic events in the United States.

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Unless it comes to a civil war, and then the head of the United States will focus all his attention on maintaining power, the expert noted.

However, he acknowledged that Trump is weakening, and Kyiv and Moscow can take advantage of this, each to their own advantage.

"I don't see any short-term consequences for Ukraine, except that media attention will be diverted from Europe and the harsh living conditions in Kyiv. I'm not sure if there will be any long-term consequences either," said Rauch, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Governance Studies Program.

He also noted that the American president is becoming extremely unpopular, and this may prompt some Republicans in Congress to "break" with him and start supporting Ukraine more.

Rauch recalled that, according to polls, show the majority of Republicans, like the vast majority of Americans, are on Kyiv's side in the fight against Moscow.

The current situation may make domestic issues a greater priority for the US president, and it is likely that Trump will try to divert attention from problems at home by taking active steps in foreign policy, said Dubovyk, a visiting professor at Tufts University (USA).