Ukraine defense chief says his nation will find battlefield solutions no matter who wins US election
ASPEN, Colorado — Ukraine will find a way to battle against the invading Russian forces Even if former President Donald Trump wins a second term and crucial US defense support is at risk, Ukraine’s defense minister said Wednesday.
In carefully worded remarks to an audience of US policymakers and journalists, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov highlighted the diplomatic and military difficulties Ukraine faces as Trump and his running mate JD Vance Gains Momentum in the American presidential race.
Vance, a senator from Ohio, has served in Congress to block US military and financial aid to Ukraine as the country battles Russian troops and cross-border attacks, while Trump has said he end the war immediately if he wins in November.
Trump, a Republican, has not said how he would do that. Analysts say it could mean cutting off U.S. aid to Ukraine unless it agrees to a ceasefire on Russian termsincluding the surrender of Ukrainian territory to Russia.
“We believe in American leadership and we believe that America wants its partners and allies to be strong as well,” Umerov said, speaking remotely to an audience of administration officials and others at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
“At this stage, we will focus on the battlefield,” Umerov said. “Whatever the outcome” of the U.S. election, “we will find solutions.”
Umerov, just like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit in Washington Last week, the country would not say whether Ukraine would continue fighting or agree to a ceasefire that would cede territory to Russia if the US withdrew its support.
While other members of the military alliance of European and North American countries also Help provide weapons, money and other aid to UkraineUS support has proven invaluable since Russia entered the war in early 2022.
For the time being, Umerov insisted that Ukraine – that expanded its mobilization efforts to bring in more troops than the 4 million Umerov said were now registered – would continue to fight to regain the territory already lost to the Russians.
It was “within our objectives” to Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plantwhich had been seized by the Russians at the start of their offensive, he said.
The defense secretary also opposed President Joe Biden on one issue, though not by name. Although Biden is the most important individual pillar of Ukraine’s defense, he has resisted growing pressure to roll back tough restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons against military targets in Russia. Biden suggested at the NATO summit that Ukraine could use the weapons to attack Moscow.
Umerov said Ukraine could not stop Russian attack attacks on its cities and infrastructure unless it could hit the air bases and other military locations in Russia where the attacks are coming from.
“We want to say it out loud: we are targeting military targets so that they cannot hit civilians in Ukraine,” he said.