Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday declined to say he would support Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s ongoing invasion, one of his starkest statements yet on the issue.
“A very simple question tonight: Do you want Ukraine to win this war?” asked moderator David Muir at the ABC News presidential debate held in Philadelphia.
“I want the war to stop,” Trump said.
“That is a war that is dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president.”
Trump said he would speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said he’ll “get them together.”
Ukrainian allies worry Trump’s plan would boil down to threatening to cut off ― or actually ending ― U.S. military aid to Ukraine, in order to force Zelenskyy to accept Russian claims on the roughly 18% of Ukrainian territory now held by Russian troops.
While Ukraine was able to roll back much of Russia’s gains in the fall of 2022, the conflict has settled into a slow, grinding war of attrition.
In her response, Vice President Kamala Harris said Trump would be soft on Putin.
“If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now,” Harris said, referring to the Ukrainian capital.
“The reality has been about standing as America always should, as a leader upholding international rules and norms, as a leader who shows strength, understanding that the alliances we have around the world are dependent on our ability to look out for our friends and not favour our enemies ― because you adore strongmen, instead of caring about democracy.”
Trump responded by saying if he were president, Putin would be in the Russian capital of Moscow, rather than out waging war, but would be happier than he is now.
“He wouldn’t have lost 300,000 men and women, but he would have been sitting in Moscow quietly,” Trump said.
Official Ukrainian estimates put the tally of Russian casualties through September 10 as much larger: 627,790.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a Ukraine ally on Capitol Hill, posted on social media, “Trump won’t say Ukraine should win the war because he wants Russia to win. I wish it weren’t that simple but it is.”