Trump dodges question about Ukraine's victory: I want war to end
Donald Trump (photo: Getty Images)
During the debate with Kamala Harris, former US President and presidential candidate Donald Trump did not provide a clear stance on Ukraine's victory in the conflict with Russian military aggression. He expressed a desire for the war to end, according to the broadcast of the debates on ABC News.
"I want the war to stop, I want to save lives. People are being killed by the millions. It's the millions. It's so much worse than the numbers that you're getting, which are fake numbers. Look, we're in for $250 billion or more because they don't ask Europe, which is a much bigger beneficiary to getting this thing done than we are," Trump said.
He claimed that current US President Joe Biden simply lacks the courage to demand money from Europe, as I demanded from Europe for NATO.
"When I said either you pay up or we're not going to protect you anymore," Trump added.
He also reiterated his claim of being well-acquainted with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I know Zelenskyy very well and I know Putin very well. I have a good relationship and they respect your president, okay? They respect me. They don't respect Biden. How would you respect him? Why? For what reason? He hasn't even made a phone call in two years to Putin. Hasn't spoken to anybody. They don't even try and get it. That is a war. That's dying to be settled. If I win, when I'm president-elected, what I'll do? I’ll speak to one, I'll speak to the other. I'll get them together. That war would never happen. Biden had no idea how to talk to him. He had no idea how to stop it. And now you have millions of people dead, and it's only getting worse. And it could lead to the World War III," Trump said.
He emphasized that it’s in our interest for this war to end, and for negotiations to take place, and stressed that we must stop the killings of millions of people.
Furthermore, Trump accused Harris of being a bad negotiator, alleging that Putin decided to launch a large-scale invasion of Ukraine following her conversation with Zelenskyy in February 2022.
Debates between Trump and Harris
This night, Kyiv time, the US is holding debates between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
For details on how the debates are expected to unfold and what Trump and Harris have prepared, read our article.
Additionally, political scientist Oleh Saakyan earlier assessed Kamala Harris's chances of winning the debates against Trump in a conversation with RBC-Ukraine.
Trump's statements on Ukraine, Russia, peace, and war
Earlier, Donald Trump stated that if he wins the election, he plans to contact Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to negotiate a peace deal.
Previously, Trump had claimed, without specifics, that he could end any war with a phone call. He remarked that under George Bush, Russia invaded Georgia, under Barack Obama, Russia annexed Crimea, and under the current US administration, Russia aims to take all of Ukraine. Trump added that when he was in the White House, Russia did not seize any territory.
Additionally, this is not the first time Trump has accused the Biden administration of being responsible for the onset of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine.
