WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump spoke heatedly in Tuesday’s presidential debate about wanting The Russian War in Ukraine would be over, but twice refused to directly answer questions about whether he wanted US ally Ukraine to win.
Trump also falsely claimed that the war has killed “millions” of people since Russia invaded Ukraine 2 1/2 years ago, when the U.N. says 11,700 civilian casualties have been confirmed. And he claimed without evidence that Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, bungled a diplomatic mission just days before Russia launched the invasion.
Trump’s comments are likely to increase concerns among Ukraine and its supporters that his return to the White House could push Ukraine into a losing peace deal with its more powerful neighbor, Russia. Ukraine is dependent on US military and financial aid to continue the fight against Russian forces, and it would have great difficulty resisting their attacks if the US were to withdraw that support.
It’s “a very simple question. Do you want Ukraine to win this war?” ABC News moderator David Muir asked Trump during Tuesday’s debate, the first of two times he pressed Trump for a direct answer.
“I want the war to stop,” Trump responded. “I want to save lives,” he added, then falsely claimed that “millions” were dying in the conflict.
Muir then asked him again whether Trump believed “it is in the best interest of the United States for Ukraine to win this war.”
The former Republican president responded: “I think it’s in the best interest of the United States to end this war and just get it done.”
Trump has repeatedly said that he is a Peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia concluded within a day if he is elected, though he does not say how. The fear of Ukraine’s supporters is that the kind of deal Trump is talking about will amount to the country’s democratic government giving up significant territory and sovereignty to Russia’s tough demands.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year urged Ukraine to give up large parts of its territory or risk collapse. joining NATO simply as a condition for starting negotiations.
“The reason Donald Trump says this war would be over in 24 hours is because he would just give up,” Harris said Tuesday. She accused Trump of being in “what you think is a friendship with … a dictator who would eat you for lunch.”
Trump has a long history of admiring comments about Putinincluding calling his tactics in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “very smart.” Trump expresses no warmth for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling him a “salesman” for his calls to allies for weapons.
The Biden administration says a victory in Ukraine would embolden Putin to take action against other Western allies in Europe. President Joe Biden and his top officials were key players in rallying international support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia even before Russian troops invaded Ukraine. The U.S. urged allies to act by pointing to declassified intelligence showing Russian preparations for the invasion.
Just days before the invasion in late February 2022, Biden sent Harris to attend annual security conference in Munich in Germany, a high-profile mission to consolidate support for Ukraine among European and NATO leaders. Harris met on the sidelines with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During the debate, Trump linked the timing of Harris’ trip to Europe to the fact that Putin would send troops to Ukraine a few days later.
“They sent her to negotiate with Zelenskyy and Putin. And she did. And the war started three days later,” he said.
However, the US government said Russian troops were massing on the border with Ukraine and that intelligence assessments already pointed to an imminent invasion. And Putin did not attend the security conference in Germany and Harris did not meet with him.