By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-26 20:51:37 | Updated at 2024-09-30 17:21:52
3 days ago
Kamala Harris insinuated Donald Trump would support Vladimir Putin over 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 of those of Putin. And let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender,' the Democratic nominee for president said.
She did not mention Donald Trump by name by her meaning was clear.
There were reports Zelensky wanted a sitdown 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.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vice President Kamala Harris shake hands during a meeting at the White House
Instead of a friendly meeting, Zelensky became a target of the former president's ire.
Trump, at a campaign rally in North Carolina earlier this week, slammed Zelensky as 'probably the greatest salesman on Earth.'
'The president of Ukraine is in our country and he's making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me,' he told his adoring crowd of MAGA supporters.
'Any deal — the worst deal — would've been better than what we have now,' Trump said, painting the Ukraine as a lost cause.
'If they made a bad deal it would've been much better. They would've given up a little bit and everybody would be living and every building would be built and every tower would be aging for another 2,000 years.
'What deal can we make? It's demolished,' he added. 'The people are dead. The country is in rubble.'
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 to his 'victory plan,' which includes enhancing Western security guarantees for Ukraine, increasing military aid and securing further financial support.
He hasn't released the full details and wasn't expected to in his meetings with President Joe Biden and with Harris.
Harris has pledged to continue sending military aid to Ukraine if she's elected president. Trump, however, has been more critical of Zelensky, raising questions about what he will do if he 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 have been proud to stand with Ukraine. I will continue to stand with Ukraine, and I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails in this war, to be safe, secure and prosperous,' she said.
'Standing with 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, it is also an attack on fundamental principles such as sovereignty and territorial integrity,' she 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 U.s. for its support.
'We believe this war can be won and just peace can be close only 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'll continue to stand by you 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 he had also presented his victory plan -- and gave a defiant address at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian president's visit to the United States came as Putin upped the stakes, saying that his country should be able to use nuclear weapons if it was attacked by a state that was supported by a nuclear power.
'It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any nonnuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation,' Putin said in a meeting at the Kremlin on Wednesday.
Zelensky has been pushing for permission to fire more Western-made weapons into the heart of Russia. Western leaders fear Putin will see that as an attack from the West and expand his war.
He also has struggled to hold world attention as the war in the Middle East spreads. Israel has increased its attacks into 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 also furious Zelensky toured a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, calling it an election year stunt.
But the White House defended the visit, telling Republicans to drop the outrage.
'This came from Ukrainian. Not us,' press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the visit.
Zelensky toured the factory with Gov. Josh Shapiro, a top Harris surrogate. Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has called on Zelensky to fire his ambassador to the U.S. for arranging the trip.
'The Ukrainians asked to visit the facility, which employs American workers, as you know, for manufacturing critical supplies that the Ukrainian military is using every day on the front line of freedom because of its centrality of their to their country's continued existence,' Jean-Pierre said.
She pointed out Zelensky visited Utah in July and Republicans expressed zero 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 wasn't a single demand, not one, not one single demand for an investigation.
'This was business as usual for a Ukrainian request during wartime, during wartime. And so I would encourage, we would encourage the House Republicans to drop this. These kind of political stuff, they need to drop this,' she noted.
Overall, the United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine.
