WASHINGTON: Democratic White House hopeful Kamala Harris has said that she would not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for peace talks if Ukraine was not represented.
She expressed these remarks during an interview, adding if elected president of the US she would not meet with Putin for peace talks if Kyiv was not also represented.
“Not bilaterally without Kyiv, no. Ukraine must have a say in the future of its country,” she told CBS’s “60 Minutes” program when asked if she would meet one-on-one with Putin to negotiate an end to the conflict.
According to AFP, Biden’s administration has earlier rejected any talks with the Russian President. Kamala Harris reiterated her criticisms of Donald Trump’s policies on Ukraine, describing these policies as a “surrender” to the invasion Russia launched in February 2022.
Donald Trump has previously been critical of US massive military and financial assistance for Ukraine and insisted that he could rapidly reach a peace agreement with President Putin.
“Trump, if he were president, Russian President Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. He talks about, ‘Oh, he can end it on day one.’ You know what that is? It’s all about surrender,” Harris stated.
Kamala Harris meanwhile said she would deal with Kyiv’s bid to join the NATO alliance “if and when it arrives at that point.”
Washington to Face “Dangerous Consequences”: Russia
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that Washington will face “dangerous consequences” if it presses on with increasing military help to Ukraine rather than backing a proposed Russian settlement that would see Russia take over swathes of territory.
Over two and a half years after Russia launched a “special military operation” against Ukraine, resulting in the deadliest conflict Europe has seen since World War II, Lavrov stated that the Kremlin is open to ending the bloodshed but only on Moscow’s terms.
