Washington — The Russian invasion of Ukraine over two years in the past rocked the worldwide world order, and it is turn out to be one of the divisive problems with the 2024 presidential election. Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris advocate very completely different approaches to involvement within the conflict and the U.S. relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Whereas the GOP has turn out to be more and more isolationist with Trump on the helm of the social gathering, Harris has touted the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen international alliances. And on the problem of Ukraine, the events have drifted farther aside on how a lot help the U.S. must be giving to the war-ravaged nation greater than two years later.
Here is the place the candidates stand on the problem:
Donald Trump on the Russia-Ukraine conflict
The previous president tried to construct pleasant relations with Russia whereas in workplace and has typically praised Putin, calling him “savvy” after the Russian chief acknowledged the independence of two Russian separatist-controlled areas in japanese Ukraine forward of the invasion. Extra just lately, Trump has steered he wouldn’t defend NATO members from Russia if they do not improve protection spending. And he has repeatedly raised questions on U.S. membership in NATO.
On Ukraine, Trump has claimed Putin would by no means have invaded the nation if he have been president. And he has steadily claimed he might finish the conflict in a day and would deliver Ukraine to the negotiating desk. Trump hasn’t stated how he plans to do that, however specialists assume he’d pressure Ukraine to barter an finish to the conflict by denying continued assist.
In the course of the presidential debate with Harris in September, Trump would not say whether or not he wished Ukraine to win in its conflict with Russia when he was requested, as an alternative responding, “I would like the conflict to cease,” and urging the 2 nations to barter a deal.
“What I am going to do is I am going to communicate to 1, I am going to communicate to the opposite, I am going to get them collectively,” Trump stated. “That conflict would have by no means occurred.”
Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the cellphone in July, in what the previous president described as a “excellent cellphone name.” He pledged in a social media submit after the decision that beneath his presidency, Ukraine and Russia “will be capable of come collectively and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path ahead to prosperity.” A cellphone dialog between the 2 leaders almost 5 years earlier led to Trump’s first impeachment, when Trump pushed for Zelenskyy to analyze his political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The previous president has been essential of the Biden administration for sending billions of {dollars} in assist to Ukraine. When the help turned a key difficulty in Congress earlier this yr, with rising opposition from conservatives, Trump himself pushed for a mortgage framework for assist to Ukraine. At a rally in June, he steered assist to Ukraine might cease if he returned to workplace. And his operating mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been vocal concerning the GOP ticket’s opposition to further Ukraine assist.
Trump’s marketing campaign web site touts the previous president’s “daring diplomacy” as a part of a pledge to “reject globalism and embrace patriotism,” whereas working to “restore our standing on this planet and American management overseas” beneath a second Trump presidency.
Doug Mills/The New York Instances/Bloomberg through Getty Photographs
Kamala Harris on the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Harris, whose report is shorter than Trump’s however has been related to the Biden administration’s insurance policies, pledged in her tackle on the Democratic conference in August that she “will stand sturdy with Ukraine and our NATO allies.”
President Biden despatched the vp to meet with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Safety Convention just a few days earlier than the Russian invasion, warning the Ukrainian chief of the Kremlin’s plan and sharing American intelligence that steered the invasion was imminent as Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border. A yr later, Harris accused Russia of committing “crimes towards humanity.” And he or she’s met with the Ukrainian chief on a number of events since.
The Biden administration has spearheaded quite a few humanitarian and navy assist packages for Ukraine and labored with allies to sanction Russia for its invasion. Nonetheless, the administration’s response — particularly early on within the conflict — has been criticized as slow-moving, whereas Republican opposition in Congress additional slowed assist to Ukraine extra just lately.
In the course of the debate, Harris touted her work within the Biden administration to help Ukraine, warning that if Trump have been nonetheless president, “Putin can be sitting in Kyiv proper now.”
“Perceive why the European allies and our NATO allies are so grateful that you’re not president and that we perceive the significance of the best navy alliance the world has ever identified,” Harris stated to Trump, “and what we’ve got accomplished to protect the power of Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians to combat for his or her independence.”
Harris’ marketing campaign web site dubs her a “tireless and efficient diplomat on the world stage,” pledging that she’s going to stand as much as dictators. It cites her assembly with Zelenskyy earlier than the conflict started, and it boasts that Harris has “helped mobilize a worldwide response of greater than 50 nations to assist Ukraine defend itself towards Vladimir Putin’s brutal aggression,” whereas working with allies to bolster NATO’s power.
