Biden and Trump at Odds Over Ukraine Issue

U.S. presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump are set to debate live this Thursday. The issue of Ukraine is expected to be one of the main topics on the agenda, reports Voice of America.

While both Biden and Trump agree that the conflict in Ukraine needs to be brought to an end as soon as possible, observers are pointing out that Trump is less clear about how to approach that goal and what policy should be pursued towards Russia and Ukraine. "He (Trump) is only in favor of certain negotiations and the need to initiate talks. He stated that he could be involved in negotiations between Putin and Zelensky but did not clarify what the draft of a peace agreement should look like," says political science lecturer Sergey Kudelyan.

On the topic of providing aid to Ukraine, Trump's stance is that Kyiv should receive loans, not grants. "We think we should give loans instead of gifts. We continue to distribute billions of dollars in gifts," said the former president of the United States.

Trump is convinced that Europe should pay more to assist Ukraine, and should he be re-elected, he does not want there to be a losing side in the Ukrainian war, says former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst. "We know that Trump considers himself a strong man and does not want to be associated with a failure in foreign policy. A Russian victory in Ukraine, if Trump is president, would resemble a foreign policy failure," states the diplomat.

It is no secret that there are differing opinions within the Republican Party regarding Ukraine. Some view the war as a major threat to U.S. security, while others consider it an expensive affair. Voice of America reports, "In the eyes of many Republicans, Russia is a declining power. Therefore, the Russo-Ukrainian war, from their perspective, is a conflict that needs to be resolved as quickly as possible to prevent it from exhausting U.S. resources," says Sergey Kudelyan.

As it is known, the Biden administration has already allocated $175 billion in aid to Kyiv, making the U.S. the largest supporter of Ukraine among the countries providing assistance.

The current leader of the White House stated that America will stand against aggression for as long as necessary: "If the United States steps back, it will endanger Ukraine. Europe is at risk. The free world will be in danger, and [such a move] will encourage others to do what they want."

Biden has partially lifted restrictions that prevented Ukrainian forces from targeting Russian territory.

"It's not that decisions in foreign policy are made based on election factors, although there are limitations. But the situation will be different in [a presidential] second term when Biden can no longer be re-elected in 2028. He will be a little freer," says Michael Kimaz, a professor at The Catholic University of America.

The disagreements between U.S. presidential candidates over the Ukraine issue are related to their approaches to Russia. Clearly, Trump seeks to improve relations with Moscow, while Biden continues to isolate Russia.