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How Donald Trump and Kamala Harris differ on the Russia-Ukraine war
Washington — The Russian invasion of Ukraine over two years ago rocked the international world order, and it’s become one of the most divisive issues of the 2024 presidential election. Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris advocate very different approaches to involvement in the war and the U.S. relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While the GOP has become increasingly isolationist with Trump at the helm of the party, Harris has touted the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen global alliances. And on the issue of Ukraine, the parties have drifted farther apart on how much support the U.S. should be giving to the war-ravaged country more than two years later.
Here’s where the candidates stand on the issue:
Donald Trump on the Russia-Ukraine war
The former president attempted to build friendly relations with Russia while in office and has often praised Putin, calling him “savvy” after the Russian leader recognized the independence of two Russian separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine ahead of the invasion. More recently, Trump has suggested he would not protect NATO members from Russia if they don’t increase defense spending. And he has repeatedly raised questions about U.S. membership in NATO.
On Ukraine, Trump has claimed Putin would never have invaded the country if he were president. And he has frequently claimed he could end the war in a day and would bring Ukraine to the negotiating table. Trump hasn’t said how he plans to do this, but experts think he’d force Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war by denying continued aid.
During the presidential debate with Harris in September, Trump wouldn’t say whether he wanted Ukraine to win in its war with Russia when he was asked, instead responding, “I want the war to stop,” and urging the two countries to negotiate a deal.
“What I’ll do is I’ll speak to one, I’ll speak to the other, I’ll get them together,” Trump said. “That war would have never happened.”
Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the phone in July, in what the former president described as a “very good phone call.” He pledged in a social media post after the call that under his presidency, Ukraine and Russia “will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity.” A phone conversation between the two leaders nearly five years earlier led to Trump’s first impeachment, when Trump pushed for Zelenskyy to investigate his political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The former president has been critical of the Biden administration for sending billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. When the aid became a key issue in Congress earlier this year, with growing opposition from conservatives, Trump himself pushed for a loan framework for aid to Ukraine. At a rally in June, he suggested aid to Ukraine could stop if he returned to office. And his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been vocal about the GOP ticket’s opposition to additional Ukraine aid.
Trump’s campaign website touts the former president’s “bold diplomacy” as part of a pledge to “reject globalism and embrace patriotism,” while working to “restore our standing in the world and American leadership abroad” under a second Trump presidency.
Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Kamala Harris on the Russia-Ukraine war
Harris, whose record is shorter than Trump’s but has been associated with the Biden administration’s policies, pledged in her address at the Democratic convention in August that she “will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.”
President Biden sent the vice president to meet with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference a few days before the Russian invasion, warning the Ukrainian leader of the Kremlin’s plan and sharing American intelligence that suggested the invasion was imminent as Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border. A year later, Harris accused Russia of committing “crimes against humanity.” And she’s met with the Ukrainian leader on multiple occasions since.
The Biden administration has spearheaded a number of humanitarian and military aid packages for Ukraine and worked with allies to sanction Russia for its invasion. Still, the administration’s response — especially early on in the war — has been criticized as slow-moving, while Republican opposition in Congress further slowed aid to Ukraine more recently.
During the debate, Harris touted her work in the Biden administration to support Ukraine, warning that if Trump were still president, “Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now.”
“Understand why the European allies and our NATO allies are so thankful that you are no longer president and that we understand the importance of the greatest military alliance the world has ever known,” Harris said to Trump, “and what we have done to preserve the ability of Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians to fight for their independence.”
Harris’ campaign website dubs her a “tireless and effective diplomat on the world stage,” pledging that she will stand up to dictators. It cites her meeting with Zelenskyy before the war began, and it boasts that Harris has “helped mobilize a global response of more than 50 countries to help Ukraine defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s brutal aggression,” while working with allies to bolster NATO’s strength.
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Paul Whelan, freed in prisoner swap with Russia, tells other American detainees: “We’re coming for you”
Washington — Nearly seven weeks after the Russians handed over Paul Whelan on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, the Marine veteran stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with a message for other Americans who are held abroad.
“We’re coming for you,” he told reporters Tuesday night after he met with lawmakers. “It might take time, but we’re coming.”
Whelan said he spoke with lawmakers about how the government can better support detainees after they’re released.
“We spoke about how the next person’s experience could be better,” he said. “What the government could do for the next person that’s held hostage and comes home — the care and support that other people might need, especially people that are in a worse situation. There are people coming back that lived in the dirt without shoes for three years, people that were locked up in hideous conditions for 20 years. They need support.”
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The U.S. secured Whelan’s release in August in one of the largest prisoner swaps since the end of the Cold War. The complex deal came after months of sensitive negotiations between the U.S., Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway.
As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. Whelan was released alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic.
Whelan, who had been the longest-held American detainee in Russia, was arrested in December 2018 when he traveled to the country to attend a friend’s wedding. He was convicted of espionage in a secret trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Whelan, his family and the U.S. government vehemently denied that he was a spy and accused Russia of using him as a political pawn. The U.S. government considered him to be wrongfully detained, a rare designation that put more government resources toward securing his release.
But a deal to secure his freedom was long elusive. He remained behind bars as Russia freed Marine veteran Trevor Reed and women’s basketball star Brittney Griner — both of whom were detained after Whelan’s arrest — in prisoner swaps with the U.S.
The U.S. said it pushed for his inclusion in both exchanges, but Russia refused. It led to Whelan advocating for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten.
When the plane carrying Whelan, Gershkovish and Kurmasheva landed in Maryland on Aug. 1, Whelan was the first to disembark. He was greeted by President Biden, who gave Whelan his American flag pin, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Whether he likes it or not, he changed the world,” Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
Whelan’s case and his family’s constant pressure on the U.S. government brought more attention to the cases of Americans who are wrongfully detained by foreign governments.
Haley said Whelan is a reminder to other Americans considering traveling to Russia that “you have a target on your back.”
Whelan said it’s been an adjustment acclimating to life back in the U.S., especially learning the latest technology like his iPhone 15.
“I was in a really remote part of Russia,” he said. “We really didn’t have much. The conditions were poor. The Russians said the poor conditions were part of the punishment. And coming back to see this sort of thing now is a bit of a shock, but it’s a good shock.”