Calls for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia 'unacceptable': Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris has said calls for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia were "dangerous and unacceptable" as she met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy here.

The comments from the Democratic nominee for president were thinly veiled criticism of suggestions from Republican candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, that Ukraine should quickly cut a deal to end the war.

They are not proposals for peace," Harris said on Thursday. Instead they are proposals for surrender.

Zelenskyy is in Washington to bolster US assistance for his country's defence.

The Ukrainian president huddled with US leaders on Thursday to shore up American support for his country's fight against Russia as the war faces a partisan reckoning in this year's presidential election.

 

Harris has pledged to continue sending military assistance to Ukraine if she's elected. She'll have her own meeting with Zelenskyy after the Ukrainian leader sat down with President Joe Biden, who announced billions of dollars more in missiles, drones, ammunition and other supplies. The weapons include an additional Patriot missile defense battery and a new shipment of glide bombs that can be deployed from Western fighter jets, increasing their strike range.

Biden pledged to ensure that all approved funding is disbursed before he leaves office, and he said he plans to convene a meeting with other world leaders focused on Ukraine's defense during a visit to Germany next month.

We stand with Ukraine, now and in the future," Biden said alongside Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Russia will not prevail. Ukraine will prevail.
 

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy's tumultuous relationship with former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, continued to deteriorate this week. Instead of meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump criticized him. As for US support for Ukraine, Trump complained that we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal" to end the war. His message dovetails with Russian propaganda that claims intransigence by Kyiv not aggression from Moscow has prolonged the bloodshed.

It's the most politically treacherous landscape that Zelenskyy has encountered in Washington since Russia invaded nearly three years ago. Ukrainian officials are anxious to maintain good relations with whomever becomes the next president of the United States, which is its biggest and most important provider of arms, money and other support.

But the effort risks slipping into the political blender of the presidential campaign, polarizing the discussion around a war that used to be a bipartisan cause clbre in Washington. About two thirds of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said the US has a responsibility to help Ukraine, compared with one third of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted in July.

Americans are also split on which presidential candidate would do a better job handling the war. An AP-NORC poll from August found that about one-third of Americans said they trusted Harris more, while a similar share said the same about Trump.

Zelenskyy was expected to present Biden with a plan to push the war toward an endgame that would involve a negotiated settlement with Russia. He's trying to secure leverage before Biden leaves office including acquiescence to fire long-range Western weapons deeper into Russia as a hedge against the possibility that American support erodes after the election.

On Thursday, Zelenskyy found some bipartisan support as he visited Capitol Hill, where he was greeted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Zelenskyy asked to use long-range weapons, such as British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles or US-made ATACMS, for maximum benefit to bring (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to the table and increase Ukraine's negotiating position.

"If we don't make that fundamental choice this week, I think the outcome for Ukraine is dire, Graham said.

Administration officials have been skeptical of Zelenskyy's request, believing the weapons could have limited benefits but increase the risk of escalating the conflict. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said senators gave Zelenskyy advice on how to persuade Biden to loosen restrictions.

Rep. Jim Himes, another Connecticut Democrat and the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Zelenskyy wanted more, faster.

He was politely frustrated," Himes said, and specifically requested more Patriot missile defences as Russia escalates strikes on Ukraine's cities and energy grid before the winter.

Despite support from some Republicans on Capitol Hill, Zelenskyy faces a much more tense situation with Trump. The latest round of sniping started on Sunday, when The New Yorker published an interview with Zelenskyy in which he criticised JD Vance, Trump's running mate, as too radical for suggesting that Ukraine needs to give up some territory to end the war.

Zelenskyy's trip to Washington coincides with the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York, where the Ukrainian leader spoke on Wednesday. Last week, Trump said he would probably meet with Zelenskyy while he was in the US, but a senior campaign official said there was never a meeting on the books.