Kamala Harris hinted that Donald Trump would support Vladimir Putin in Ukraine when she met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Thursday.
‘There are some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory… These proposals are the same as Putin’s. And let’s be clear, these are not peace proposals. Rather, they are proposals for surrender,” said the Democratic presidential candidate.
He did not mention Donald Trump by name because his meaning was clear.
There were reports that Zelensky wanted to sit down with Trump while he was in the United States for the UN General Assembly meeting.
His visit came in the shadow of election-year politics and many want time with the two contenders fighting to be the next occupant of the Oval Office.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vice President Kamala Harris shake hands during a meeting at the White House.
Instead of a friendly meeting, Zelensky became the target of the former president’s wrath.
Trump, at a campaign rally in North Carolina earlier this week, criticized Zelensky as “probably the best salesman on Earth.”
“The president of Ukraine is in our country and he’s making nasty little slanders toward his favorite president, me,” he told his adoring crowd of MAGA supporters.
“Any deal, even the worst, would have been better than the one we have now,” Trump said, portraying Ukraine as a lost cause.
‘If they had made a bad deal, it would have been much better. They would have given up a little and everyone would be alive and every building would be built and every tower would age for another 2,000 years.
‘What deal can we make? “It’s demolished,” she added. ‘People are dead. The country is in ruins.”
Ukraine has lost a fifth of its territory and tens of thousands of lives in the conflict.
Zelensky is in the United States to persuade officials of his “victory plan,” which includes improving Western security guarantees for Ukraine, increasing military aid and securing more financial support.
He has not revealed all the details and was not expected to do so in his meetings with President Joe Biden and Harris.
Harris has pledged to continue sending military aid to Ukraine if she is elected president. Trump, however, has been more critical of Zelensky and has raised questions about what she will do if she returns to the White House.
The vice president, who has met with Zelensky seven times, was clear in her support.
‘My support for the people of Ukraine is unwavering. I am proud to support Ukraine. “I will continue to support Ukraine and work to ensure that Ukraine prevails in this war, that it is safe and prosperous,” he said.
‘Supporting our friends and defending our ideals against tyranny has helped make America the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world. “Putin’s aggression is not only an attack on the people of Ukraine, but also an attack on fundamental principles such as sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wave from the balcony of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Joe Biden meet in the Oval Office
Zelensky spoke after her, saying he looked forward to the conversation and thanking the United States for its support.
“We believe that this war can be won and that just peace can only be achieved with it,” he said.
Before his meeting with Harris, Zelensky met with Biden in the Oval Office.
‘Russia will not prevail. Ukraine will prevail and we will continue to support them every step of the way,” Biden said, after thanking him for presenting the so-called victory plan.
Zelensky also visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where his government said it had also presented its victory plan, and delivered a defiant speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian president’s visit to the United States came as Putin raised the stakes, saying his country should be able to use nuclear weapons if attacked by a state that was supported by a nuclear power.
“It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered a joint attack on the Russian Federation,” Putin said at a meeting in the Kremlin on Wednesday. .
Zelensky has been pushing for permission to fire more Western-made weapons into the heart of Russia. Western leaders fear that Putin will see this as an attack by the West and expand his war.
It has also struggled to maintain global attention as the war in the Middle East spreads. Israel has increased its attacks on Lebanon as it targets members of Hezbollah.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (center) walks with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Republicans were furious, too. Zelensky visited a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, calling it an election-year stunt.
But the White House defended the visit and told Republicans to stop being outraged.
‘This came from Ukraine. Not us,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the visit.
Zelensky toured the factory with Gov. Josh Shapiro, one of Harris’ top surrogates. Republican President Mike Johnson has called on Zelensky to fire his ambassador to the United States for organizing the trip.
“The Ukrainians asked to visit the facility, which employs American workers, as you know, to manufacture critical supplies that the Ukrainian military uses every day on the front lines of freedom because of its importance to the continued existence of their country,” Jean – Peter said.
He noted that Zelensky visited Utah in July and that Republicans did not express any outrage.
“President Zelensky traveled to Utah and held an event with the Republican governor, a very similar event, and Republican officials were there at that event in Utah, and there was not a single demand, not one, not a single demand for an investigation. .
“This was standard for a Ukrainian request during wartime, during wartime. So I would encourage House Republicans to drop this. “These types of political things have to stop,” he said.
In total, the United States has provided about $175 billion in military and economic assistance to Ukraine.