Wednesday, July 17 — Today, Russia’s top diplomat signaled a preference for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and especially his running mate JD Vance, the Biden campaign said.
“No surprise,” the statement added. “Donald Trump praised Putin for being “so smart” when he invaded Ukraine in 2014 and in 2022 again praised Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “genius” and “savvy.”
It said, “As President, Trump abused his power by withholding congressionally approved aid to Ukraine to fight Russia. Now, Trump’s team is proposing a new plan to force Ukraine to surrender its territory to Russia if he is elected by withholding military aid for Ukraine. During this campaign, he encouraged Russia to “do whatever they hell they want” to any NATO ally.”
It cited J.D. Vance saying, “I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.”
Biden-Harris 2024 Spokesperson James Singer released the following statement: “Of course Vladimir Putin’s regime supports Donald Trump and J.D. Vance — Trump encouraged Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to our NATO allies, greenlit Putin’s expansion into Europe, and signaled to other dictators around the world that under a Trump-Vance administration the United States will not protect its allies or stand up for America’s core values in the world.”