Donald Trump: I’ll get us out of Ukraine if I win US election

Donald Trump has said he will end American involvement in the war in Ukraine if he secures a return to the White House, in comments that will prompt deep concern in Kyiv.

“[President] Biden and Kamala ­[Harris] got us into this war in Ukraine, and now they can’t get us out. They can’t get us out,” Trump said in a campaign speech in Georgia. “I think that we’re stuck in that war unless I’m president. I’ll get it done. I’ll get it negotiated, I’ll get out. We gotta get out. Biden says, ‘We will not leave until we win.’ What happens if they win?”

Although the United States has not sent troops to Ukraine, it has supplied the vast majority of weapons to Kyiv as it fights off Russia’s invasion. President Zelensky said in April that Ukraine would have “no chance of winning” without US military assistance.

 

 

Trump has insisted that he would tell Zelensky and President Putin to “make a deal” to end the war. He has not explained how he would halt Russia’s invasion. The Ukrainian leader is in the United States for a meeting with Biden during which he will press for permission to use western missiles to strike deep inside Russia. Zelensky has said he also wants to meet Trump, something the Republican candidate said would “probably” happen, though no date has been scheduled.

Zelensky told ABC News: “Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year. That’s why we’re asking our friends, our allies, to strengthen us.”

Kyiv wants to target Russia military bases with western missiles such as Storm Shadows to inflict crippling blows on Putin’s war machine. The Kremlin has warned on numerous ­occasions that growing western ­involvement in the war in Ukraine could provoke a nuclear response.

Trump also accused Zelensky of wanting Harris to win the US presi­dency. “I think Zelensky is the greatest salesman in history. Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with $60 billion,” he told a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

• Who will win the 2024 US election? Polls and predictions

Washington approved a $61 billion package of US military aid for Ukraine in April after months of opposition by some Republicans. “He wants [Harris] to win this election so badly, but I would do differently — I will work out peace,” Trump added.

Earlier, Zelensky cast doubt on Trump’s claims that he could bring peace to Ukraine in 24 hours if elected. He told The New Yorker: “My feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how. With this war, oftentimes, the deeper you look at it the less you understand.”