UKRAINIANS FEAR TRUMP’S RETURN
Former US president – and current Republican presidential nominee – Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut off aid to Ukraine, saying he will end the war within 24 hours if he gets back into the White House.
Ukrainians said they are worried about Trump’s vision of what an end to the war would look like.
“It will end up being on Russia’s terms. We will have to give half of Ukraine (and) give Crimea, maybe even something more, to end the war,” said one Ukrainian, who gave her name as Lisa.
In contrast, US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has voiced strong support for Ukraine. She has slammed Trump’s stance, describing it as a policy of surrender to Russia.
Despite the seeming division across the aisle, there is still strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in Congress, noted William Courtney, adjunct senior fellow at American think tank Rand.
He noted that in April this year, when the US approved US$61 billion in support for Ukraine, the vote was three to one in favour in the House of Representatives and four to one in favour in the Senate. Such support has continued, he added.
In total, Washington has approved US$175 billion worth of emergency support for Kyiv so far, largely for weapons, equipment and other military assistance – surpassing aid from any other country.
