WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump spoke out forcefully during Tuesday’s presidential debate about his desire to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but he twice refused to directly answer a question about whether he wanted U.S. 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 deaths 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 raise 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, a Western alliance, relies on U.S. military and financial aid to keep up the fight against Russian forces, and it would struggle to withstand their attacks if the U.S. 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 if elected, he would have a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia within a day, though he has not said how. The fear among Ukraine’s supporters is that the kind of deal Trump is talking about would involve the country’s democratic government giving up significant territory and sovereignty to Russia’s harsh demands.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year demanded that Ukraine give up large swaths of territory and not join NATO 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 Putin, including 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 dispatched Harris to the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany, a high-profile mission to consolidate support for Ukraine among European and NATO leaders. Harris met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines.
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.
