On Sept. 22nd, Ukrainian president Zelensky arrived in the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly and to present his victory plan to both presidential candidates. Zelensky’s visit to the United States comes just weeks before the 2024 election and during an increasingly tense period of American politics.
In response to Zelenskyy’s tour of an ammunition factory in Scranton with Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro, GOP Speaker Mike Johnson has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its ambassador to the United States and labeled the visit “election interference”. After not responding to Zelensky’s initial offer to meet and criticizing Ukraine’s refusal to “make a deal” with Russia, Trump agreed to a last-minute meeting at Trump Tower after publicly posting a message from Ukrainian deputy ambassador Sienik.
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While these developments have highlighted the growing distance between both parties’ stances towards American support for Ukraine, an even deeper divide between Republican and Democratic visions for Ukraine can be seen in the aftermath of Zelensky’s meetings with both Biden and Trump.
On Sep. 25, the White House announced a major assistance package for Ukraine. According to the Joint Declaration of Support for Recovery and Reconstruction of Ukraine, the US and 29 allies have pledged economic and military support to Ukraine and support for a future reconstruction process.
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Additionally, a read-out of the bilateral meeting between President Biden and President Zelensky on Sep. 26 confirmed that the US will expand the Ukrainian F-16 training program, replenish Kyiv’s inventory of Patriot air defense missiles, and provide an additional battery of Patriot air defense systems. The White House confirmed that the Biden administration will use the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and Presidential Drawdown Authority to provide much-needed material support for Ukraine and ensure that funding allocated by Congress does not expire on Sep 30.
When coupled with public support from Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, we can see a firm commitment by the current administration and Democratic party towards achieving Ukrainian victory and giving Kyiv the tools it needs to win.
In comparison, Zelensky’s last-minute meeting at Trump Tower on Sep. 27 revealed just how much contempt Donald Trump and the GOP have for Ukraine. Trump has already publicly stated he thinks Ukraine is “demolished” and considers Kyiv’s resistance to be futile. Trump reiterated his earlier nebulous demands for ending the war with a “deal.”
Given the vision for “peace” presented by Vance, it’s fair to assume that Trump disregarded the proposed Ukrainian victory plan and instead remained fixated on gaining Putin’s approval - especially considering he referenced his “very good relationship” with Putin while standing side by side with Zelenskyy. Trump went as far as to mention the phone call I blew the whistle on and the “hoax impeachment” during his meeting with Zelenskyy, proving that there is nothing that can get in the way of Donald Trump’s sense of personal grievances and self-importance over matters of international security.
Only a sociopath could behave this way. Donald goes out of his way to say he has “very good relations” with the dictator who launched an unprovoked invasion and inflicted immense suffering while standing next to a democratically elected leader fighting a war for survival.
Readers, join me in keeping this man out of office on Election Day. A vote for Harris is a vote for Ukrainian victory and a better America!
Alexander Vindman, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and former Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, holds a doctorate in international affairs and is Director of the Institute for Informed American Leadership at the VetVoice Foundation.
This article reprinted with the author’s permission from his blog Why It Matters. See the original here.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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