Ukraine risks North and South Korea-like division, says former Singapore diplomat

Russia's war on Ukraine could end with the latter being divided into two — like North and South Korea, according to Singapore's former ambassador to Russia, Bilarhari Kausikan.

Before 1945, Korea existed as a unified country. However, it was split into two after World War II, when neither the communist-backed North or the UN-backed South was able to reclaim the entire peninsula after the Korean War between 1950 to 1953.

Speaking earlier this week at an outlook event held by private bank VP Bank, Kausikan said that if former U.S. President Donald Trump were to return to the White House, he will likely do "something dramatic" on Ukraine to distinguish himself from the previous administration under Joe Biden.

Trump's chances of being reelected ticked higher after he survived an assassination attempt on Saturday.

The ex-president and Republican presidential nominee has himself boasted repeatedly that he could end the war in Ukraine "within 24 hours," and did not commit to aid for Ukraine when asked by CNN during an interview in May 2023.

In March, Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Trump had told him he would cut off U.S. military aid to Ukraine in an effort to end its conflict with Russia.

Kausikan, a veteran Singapore diplomat, did not elaborate on what Trump's "dramatic" act would be, but said his view was that "Europe is incapable of deterring Russia, and therefore is incapable of supporting Ukraine in any substantive way, without the U.S. at its back."

European countries, especially NATO members, have had a testy relationship with the former president, with Trump repeatedly threatening to pull the U.S. out ofNATO if member states did not meet the guideline to spend 2% of their GDP on defense.

In February, Trump warned