Topics in the News: Ukraine
JD Vance on Foreign Policy
: Oct 27, 2024
Just because we don't like Putin doesn't mean we can't talk
Q: Do you see Putin as an ally or an enemy?A: Well, I think that he's clearly an adversary. He is a competitor. But I think that we also have to be smart about diplomacy, too. Just because we don't like somebody doesn't mean that we can't occasionally
engage in conversations with them. And I think it's important if we're ever going to end the war in Ukraine, we're going to have to engage in some sort of negotiation between Ukraine, Russia, our NATO allies in Europe.
A: When you say that he's an
adversary, you're not willing to call him an enemy?
Q: I don't want to be in a war with Vladimir Putin's Russia. I think that we should try to pursue avenues of peace. I'd also call China a competitor, but we're not in a war with China either.
I do think, though, that China constitutes the biggest threat that we have for the United States of America. And I think that we have to be serious about it. But I think we have to be careful about the language that we use in international diplomacy.
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Source: Meet the Press interview: 2024 Vice Presidential Veepstakes
Kamala Harris on Welfare & Poverty
: Oct 10, 2024
America is a champion of sovereignty & territorial integrity
HOWARD STERN: This is what keeps me up at night. I don't understand how my fellow Americans, I don't even understand how this election is close. And yes, I'm voting for you, but I would also vote for that wall over there. Rather than a guy who says,
where do I begin? A guy who says he doesn't support Ukraine, wouldn't get on that stage with you and say, Ukraine? And why do my fellow Americans want this kind of chaos overseas? Why?KAMALA HARRIS: To your point, doesn't support our friend
Ukraine, doesn't support, something America should always, and has always been a champion of, which is the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity, which means the importance of standing against anyone who tries to take another
nation by force. That's what we stand for as Americans, that you don't do that. And if you do that to our friends, we're going to stand with our friends.
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Source: Howard Stern Show interview of 2024 Presidential hopefuls
Kamala Harris on Homeland Security
: Sep 10, 2024
Our weapons & support prevented Putin taking Kiev & Poland
TRUMP: [On Russia]: They don't respect Biden. Why? For what reason? He hasn't even made a phone call in two years to Putin. Hasn't spoken to anybody. When I saw Putin building up soldiers, he did it after I left [the presidency], I said "oh, he must be
negotiating; it must be a good strong point of negotiation." Well, it wasn't because Biden had no idea how to talk to him. We're playing with World War 3. KAMAL HARRIS: I actually met with Zelenskyy a few days before Russia invaded. Days later
I went to NATO's eastern flank, to Poland and Romania. And because of our support, because of the air defense, the ammunition, the artillery, the Javelins, the Abrams tanks that we have provided, Ukraine stands as an independent and free country.
If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. And understand what that would mean. Because Putin's agenda is not just about Ukraine. Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe. Starting with Poland.
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Source: ABC News 2024 Presidential debate in Philadelphia
Kamala Harris on War & Peace
: Sep 10, 2024
Brought 50 NATO countries into righteous defense of Ukraine
Q: Do you want Ukraine to win this war?DONALD TRUMP: I want the war to stop. I will get it settled before I even become president. If I win, when I'm President-Elect, and what I'll do is I'll speak to one, I'll speak to the other. I think it's in the
U.S. best interest to get this war finished and just get it done. Negotiate a deal. Because we have to stop all of these human lives from being destroyed.
Q: Would you deal with Vladimir Putin any differently from what we're seeing from President Biden?
KAMALA HARRIS: I believe the reason that Donald Trump says that this war would be over within 24 hours is because he would just give it up. And that's not who we are as Americans. Let's understand what happened here. I actually met with Zelenskyy a
few days before Russia invaded, tried through force to change territorial boundaries [defying] international rules. Days later I went to NATO's eastern flank. And we brought 50 countries together to support Ukraine in its righteous defense.
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Source: ABC News 2024 Presidential debate in Philadelphia
Donald Trump on War & Peace
: Sep 10, 2024
End Ukraine war by negotiating, not by one side winning
Q: Do you want Ukraine to win this war?DONALD TRUMP: I want the war to stop. I want to save lives that are being uselessly -- people being killed by the millions. It's so much worse than the numbers that you're getting, which are fake numbers. Look,
we're in for $250 billion or more because they don't ask Europe. They're in for $150 billion less because Biden and [V.P. Harris] don't have the courage to ask Europe like I did with NATO. That is a war that's dying to be settled. I will get it settled
before I even become president. If I win, when I'm President-Elect, and what I'll do is I'll speak to one, I'll speak to the other, I'll get them together.
Q: Just to clarify the question, do you believe it's in the U.S. best interests for Ukraine to
win this war? Yes or no?
DONALD TRUMP: I think it's in the U.S. best interest to get this war finished and just get it done. All right. Negotiate a deal. Because we have to stop all of these human lives from being destroyed.
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Source: ABC News 2024 Presidential debate in Philadelphia
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Sep 5, 2024
FactCheck: Putin and Russian trolling support Trump
Ilya Gambashidze and his company were named among the architects of a disinformation campaign known as Doppelganger that has for the past 2 years been targeting Ukraine & US elections. The Doppelganger campaign uses AI-generated content on dozens of fake
websites designed to impersonate mainstream media outlets.[Newly unsealed] court documents contain a treasure trove of documents, outlining the Kremlin's tactics to influence the outcome of the 2024 US election.
The records also reveal the plan was
discussed at the highest levels of the Russian government, appearing to show that President Vladimir Putin may have been updated.
The orchestrators of the campaign targeted existing divisions within US society, using racist stereotypes and far-right
conspiracies to target supporters of former president Donald Trump.
The plan lists a variety of targeted audiences, including residents of swing states, American Jews, "US citizens of Hispanic descent," and the "community of American gamers."
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Source: Wired.com FactCheck on Foreign Influences in 2024 Pres. race
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Government Reform
: Aug 25, 2024
Unity government: criticize on some issue; but work together
Q: How did you get from criticizing Trump to endorsing Trump?KENNEDY: President Trump had been reaching out to me. The broad issues that were most important to me--the ones that brought me into the campaign--ending the Ukraine war, ending the
censorship and protecting children's health--those are all things that President Trump also wanted to work on, and he invited me to form a unity government. We agreed that we'd be able to continue to criticize each other on issues on which we
don't agree. We need in this country to reach a point where we love our children more than we hate each other.
Q: Have you all negotiated over or talked about a cabinet position?
KENNEDY: No, there's no commitments. We just made a
general commitment that we were going to work together.
Q: There were reports a couple weeks that there had been outreach to the Harris camp as well?
KENNEDY: I reached out to them on the same basis that I reached out to President Trump.
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Source: Fox News Sunday on 2024 Presidential hopefuls
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Aug 23, 2024
Endorsed by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent campaign for the White House and endorsed Donald Trump, a late-stage shakeup of the race that could give the former president a modest boost from Kennedy’s supporters. Hours later, Kennedy joined
Trump onstage at an Arizona rally, where the crowd burst into "Bobby!" cheers.Kennedy cited free speech, the war in Ukraine and "a war on our children" as among the reasons he would try to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states.
"These are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump," Kennedy said. Kennedy said his actions followed conversations with Trump over the past few
weeks. He cast their alliance as "a unity party," an arrangement that would "allow us to disagree publicly and privately and seriously." Kennedy suggested Trump offered him a job if he returns to the White House, but neither he nor Trump offered details.
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Source: Associated press on 2024 RFK/Trump endorsements
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Principles & Values
: Aug 23, 2024
Suspends campaign and endorses Donald Trump
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent campaign for the White House and endorsed Donald Trump, a late-stage shakeup of the race that could give the former president a modest boost from Kennedy’s supporters. Hours later, Kennedy joined
Trump onstage at an Arizona rally, where the crowd burst into "Bobby!" cheers.Kennedy cited free speech, the war in Ukraine and "a war on our children" as among the reasons he would try to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states.
"These are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump," Kennedy said. Kennedy said his actions followed conversations with Trump over the past few
weeks. He cast their alliance as "a unity party," an arrangement that would "allow us to disagree publicly and privately and seriously." Kennedy suggested Trump offered him a job if he returns to the White House, but neither he nor Trump offered details.
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Source: 2024 RFK/Trump endorsements: Presidential Hopefuls
JD Vance on War & Peace
: Jul 29, 2024
I saw when I went to Iraq that I had been lied to
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance served in the U.S. Marine Corps, and he's the first veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan to appear on a presidential ballot. But Vance isn't a hawk; in fact, he now leads a contingent of war veterans in the
Republican Party who oppose U.S. military intervention abroad. "I served my country honorably and I saw when I went to Iraq that I had been lied to," Vance said on the Senate floor in April after the chamber passed $61 billion of new aid for Ukraine.
He essentially accused his colleagues of getting fooled, just like he was when he believed in the Iraq War. "My excuse is that I was a high school senior. What is the excuse of many people who were in this chamber or in the
House of Representatives at the time and are now singing the exact same song when it comes to Ukraine? Have we learned nothing?" he said.
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Source: NPR on 2024 Veepstakes
JD Vance on Foreign Policy
: Jul 16, 2024
Pivot US policy to China and away from Europe
After gaining the Republican nomination for vice-president, [Vance says] that the focus of US foreign policy would be China, which he described as "the biggest threat" to his country. Vance is known as a China hawk and a loyal supporter of
Trump's "America first" agenda. He has long backed pivoting US foreign policy away from Ukraine and back towards East Asia, supporting Trump's plan to increase tariffs on Chinese goods that were undercutting American workers.
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Source: South China Morning Post on 2024 Veepstakes
Donald Trump on War & Peace
: Jun 27, 2024
I think Biden encouraged Russia to invade Ukraine
Q: What can be done about the Ukraine-Russia war?TRUMP: As far as Russia and Ukraine, if we had a real president, a president that knew--that was respected by Putin, he would have never--he would have never invaded Ukraine.
A lot of people are dead right now, much more than people know. You know, they talk about numbers. You can double those numbers, maybe triple those numbers. [Biden] did nothing to stop it. In fact, I think he encouraged Russia from going in.
Q: Are Putin's terms acceptable to you, keeping the territory in Ukraine?
TRUMP: No, they're not acceptable. But look, this is a war that never should have started. I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelenskyy as president-elect before
I take office on January 20th. I'll have that war settled. People being killed so needlessly, so stupidly, and I will get it settled and I'll get it settled fast before I take office.
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Source: First Trump-Biden debate, at CNN in Atlanta
Joe Biden on War & Peace
: Jun 27, 2024
Putin is a war criminal and won't stop at Ukraine
Q [to Trump]: Are Putin's terms acceptable to you, keeping the territory in Ukraine?TRUMP: No, they're not acceptable. But look, this is a war that never should have started. I will have that war settled between
Putin and Zelenskyy as president-elect before I take office on January 20th. I'll have that war settled. People being killed so needlessly, so stupidly, and I will get it settled and I'll get it settled fast before I take office.
BIDEN: The fact is that Putin is a war criminal. He's killed thousands and thousands of people. And he has made one thing clear, he wants to re-establish what was part of the Soviet Empire, not just a piece, he wants all of Ukraine.
That's what he wants. And then do you think he'll stop there? Do you think he'll stop if he takes Ukraine? What do you think happens to Poland? What do you think of Belarus? What do you think happens to those NATO countries?
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Source: First Trump-Biden debate, at CNN in Atlanta
Kamala Harris on Homeland Security
: Jun 15, 2024
$1.5B to help Ukraine rebuild with a lasting peace
[To President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine]: I stand with Ukraine and the leaders from around the world in support of a just and lasting peace. As we look forward to that peace and work toward that, the United States is committed to helping
Ukraine rebuild. To that end, today I am pleased to announce that the United States will provide more than one and a half billion dollars to address Ukraine's humanitarian and energy needs and to help relieve the suffering of the people of Ukraine.
This number includes $824 million for critical energy needs, including repairing energy infrastructure; $379 million in humanitarian assistance, including food, water, shelter, and health services; and $300 million for civilian security assistance,
including support for law enforcement. President Zelenskyy, this support is a demonstration of the indisputable fact the United States stands with the people of Ukraine.
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Source: White House Vice Presidential 2024 press release:"Zelenskyy"
JD Vance on Foreign Policy
: May 15, 2024
Putin is a bad guy, but there's no Domino Theory in Europe
Some in favor [of US support of Ukraine] warn that unless the United States helps repel Russian invaders there, they will conquer Ukraine and Russian leader Vladmir Putin will then seek to take more of Europe, as Adolf Hitler did nearly nine decades
ago. Vance rejects the 'Domino Theory' in Europe: "The domino theory of politics that I guess probably goes back to the Vietnam War certainly was true in Iraq and now is definitely true with regards to Ukraine; there's kind of like this sense that we're
constantly back in the 1930s: if you don't stop the bad guy, he's going to keep on taking territory."Of the threat of Russian expansion into other European countries, Vance said: "We have to analyze these things in their own historical context.
And Vladimir Putin might be a bad guy, and in fact I think he is, but he's not nearly as powerful in relative terms as Hitler‘s Germany was in the late 1930s. So the idea that he poses a risk to the broader European continent is just absurd to me."
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Source: Cincinnati Enquirer on 2024 Veepstakes
JD Vance on Homeland Security
: May 15, 2024
Facilitate peace in Russia-Ukraine, instead of US support
Vance sees unsettling similarities between the run-up to the Iraq War and current calls for more U.S. support to Ukraine. He said some of the same people who are most hawkish on Ukraine were the most hawkish on Iraq, showing lack of humility
about their previous misjudgment. Vance had previously been making the Iraq comparison in private with his Washington colleagues, he said, and thinks there is growing skepticism about U.S. Ukraine involvement and more belief that our
European allies should do more."I've been trying to make sure we don't take an escalatory posture," Vance said. The best role for the United States, he said, is to help facilitate a peaceful resolution to the
Russian-Ukraine conflict--which Trump claims he could do as president--and "prevent this thing from escalating into World War III."
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Source: Cincinnati Enquirer on 2024 Veepstakes
JD Vance on War & Peace
: May 15, 2024
Iraq War was ill-advised years-long overseas entanglement
Vance has recently compared U.S. Ukraine involvement to the Iraq War, including in an April 23 Senate floor speech. The George W. Bush administration attacked Iraq in 2003, citing the perceived growing threat of Saddam Hussein as part of what Bush
called an "axis of evil" and hyped claims that Iraq was arming itself with "Weapons of Mass Destruction." Vance, who enlisted in the Marines out of high school that year, was later deployed to Iraq for two years. In the years after his service, he
concluded it was an ill-advised and costly years-long overseas entanglement with negative consequences."Like any self-respecting hillbilly," he had wanted to go to the Middle East to kill terrorists in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on
New York City, Vance wrote in his 2016 bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy." He now sees unsettling similarities between the run-up to the Iraq War and current calls for more U.S. support to Ukraine.
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Source: Cincinnati Enquirer on 2024 Veepstakes
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Mar 30, 2024
Hunter Biden verdict a distraction from Biden Crime Family
Trump Campaign Statement on the Hunter Biden Trial Verdict and Biden Crime Family: "This trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family, which has raked in tens of millions of dollars from
China, Russia and Ukraine. Crooked Joe Biden's reign over the Biden Family Criminal Empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit."FactCheck (CNN June 11, 2024):
A federal jury has convicted Hunter Biden on all three federal felony gun charges he faced, concluding that he violated laws meant to prevent drug addicts from owning firearms. The conviction marks the first time a president's immediate family member
has been found guilty of a crime during their father's term in office, though his crimes predate Joe Biden's tenure as president. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all three charges, which stemmed from a revolver Hunter Biden bought in October 2018.
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Source: CNN FactCheck on Pres. 2024 press release: "Verdict"
Joe Biden on War & Peace
: Mar 7, 2024
Ukraine: no American soldiers but America will not bow down
Overseas, Putin of Russia is on the march invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond. If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you he will not. But Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and
provide the weapons that it needs to defend itself. That is all Ukraine is asking. They're not asking for American soldiers. In fact, there are no American soldiers in the war in Ukraine and I'm determined to keep it that way.But now, assistance to
Ukraine is being blocked by those who want to walk away from our world leadership. I wasn't a long ago when a Republican president named Ronald Reagan thundered, "Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall."
Now, my predecessor, a former Republican president,
tells Putin, "Do whatever the hell you want." That's a quote. A former president actually said that bowing down to a Russian leader, I think it's outrageous, it's dangerous, and it's unacceptable. America is a founding member of NATO.
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Source: 2024 State of the Union address
Ryan Binkley on Foreign Policy
: Feb 5, 2024
Quick to aid allies, willing to extend hand of diplomacy
Russia's illegal war against Ukraine, China's increasingly aggressive imperialism, and the continued provocations from North Korea demonstrate the fragile state of our national security.The way to freedom is an
America that is proud and secure in its place in the world, unflinching in the face of tyranny, slow to anger, quick to aid its allies, but always willing to extend the hand of diplomacy to anyone who will take it in good faith.
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Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website Binkley2024.com
Nikki Haley on Homeland Security
: Jan 18, 2024
Don't give cash to friends or foe; you can't follow it
Q: Your response to the rising tensions between China and Taiwan after the recent Taiwanese election?HALEY: Great win for the Taiwanese election. And it happened on the heels of China doing incredible amounts of intimidation with drone tactics, with
trying to spread misinformation. So it really was a win for freedom and democracy. A setback for China for sure.
Q: [Should we help Taiwan with troops, or just money and supplies like in Ukraine?]
HALEY: I don't think that we should ever give cash
to any country, friend or foe, because you can't follow it, you can't hold it accountable. Really important. The second thing is we don't need to put troops on the ground anywhere. As the spouse of a military combat veteran, you don't ever want to see
your loved ones go to war. But what you do have to do is deter it. There's a reason the Taiwanese want the U.S. and the West to support Ukraine. Because they know if Ukraine wins, China won't invade Taiwan.
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Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Nikki Haley on Foreign Policy
: Jan 10, 2024
Dictators always say what they're going to do
Q: It's been nearly two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and there is still no end in sight to that war. Gov. Haley, you say that this is a "war about freedom that Ukraine must win." Gov. DeSantis says, "We need to bring this war to an end."
HALEY: I don't think we should give cash to any country, friend or foe, because you can't follow it. You can't hold it accountable. I don't think we need to put troops on the ground. But, dictators always say what they're going to do.
China said they were going to take Hong Kong. They did. Russia said they were going to invade Ukraine. We watched it. China says Taiwan is next. We better believe them. Russia said once they take Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. Those are
NATO countries, and that puts America at war. This is about preventing war. It's always been about preventing war. If we support Ukraine, that's only 3.5% of our defense budget. Biden and no one else is telling the American people the truth about that.
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Source: CNN 2024 pre-Iowa caucus one-on-one debate
Ron DeSantis on Foreign Policy
: Jan 10, 2024
Hard power in Indo-Pacific against Chinese Communist Party
Gov. HALEY: Dictators always say what they're going to do. China said they were going to take Hong Kong. They did. Russia said they were going to invade Ukraine. We watched it. China says Taiwan is next. We better believe them.DESANTIS: I supported
Trump's policy vis-a-vis Russia & Ukraine, and it was successful. You know, the Biden policy has not been. But, Nikki Haley is basically a carbon copy of what Biden is. It's an open-ended commitment. They want another $108 billion. We need to find a way
to end this. But, we also have to look at what's the top threat to this country. It's the Chinese Communist Party. We are not doing what we need to do to have adequate hard power in the Indo-Pacific... I'm a Navy guy. We need more sea power.
We're going to build that up and we're going to have a strategy to deny their ability to invade Taiwan or to get beyond the first island chain. On the current course, they're going to take advantage of Biden.
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Source: CNN 2024 pre-Iowa caucus one-on-one debate
Nikki Haley on War & Peace
: Dec 6, 2023
Win in Ukraine to protect Taiwan
If you look at the fact Russia was losing that war with Ukraine, Putin had hit rock bottom, they had raised the draft age to 65, he was getting drones from Iran. All of a sudden, Hamas goes and invades Israel and butchers those people on
Putin's birthday. There is no one happier right now than Putin because all of the attention America had on Ukraine suddenly went to Israel. And that's what they were hoping is going to happen. We need to make sure that we have full clarity that
there is a reason again that Taiwanese want to help Ukrainians because they know if Ukraine wins, China won't invade Taiwan. There's a reason the Ukrainians want to help Israelis because they know that if Iran wins,
Russia wins, these are all connected. But what wins all of that is a strong America, not a weak America, and that's what Joe Biden's given us.
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Source: NewsNation 2023 Republican primary debate in Alabama
Nikki Haley on War & Peace
: Dec 6, 2023
Win in Ukraine to protect Taiwan from China
When it comes to China and Taiwan, the one way that we keep China from going into Taiwan is, one, make sure that we win in Ukraine, that we protect our friends, but also let China know that there'll be hell to pay if they go into Taiwan. They need to
know that there is going to be a force that's going to go against them and they need to know it's not just going to be the United States. That is why we need to build our partnerships with India, with South Korea, with Japan, with the Philippines, with
Australia. We need to start pulling that alliance together.If China pulled the rug out from under us tomorrow, would we be ready? Think about what happened during COVID. Everybody told you to wear a mask, they were made in China. Everything that
happened, if you go to the drugstore, all those medicines are made in China. We have to make sure that we are not relying on China for anything related to our national security, which means let's start focusing on doing deals with our friends now.
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Source: NewsNation 2023 Republican primary debate in Alabama
Vivek Ramaswamy on Foreign Policy
: Nov 8, 2023
Ukraine is no paragon of democracy; it's not good-vs-evil
Vivek Ramaswamy: Ukraine is not a paragon of democracy. This is a country that has banned 11 opposition parties. It has consolidated all media into one state TV media arm. That's not democratic. It has threatened not to hold elections this year
unless the U.S. forks over more money. That is not democratic. It has celebrated a Nazi in its ranks, the comedian in cargo pants, a man called Zelensky. And so to frame this as some kind of battle between good versus evil, don't buy it.
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Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Chris Christie on Foreign Policy
: Nov 8, 2023
It's the price we pay for being leaders of the free world
Q: How long should Americans be expected to help fund the war in Ukraine?Gov. Christie: Let's remember the last time that we turned our back on a shooting war in Europe. It bought us just a couple of years and then 500,000 Americans were killed in
Europe to defeat Hitler. This is not a choice. This is the price we pay for being the leaders of the free world. And the fact is this alliance is not just with Russia and China. Iran is in the middle of this as well, and so is North Korea.
And the reason they're doing it is because dictators work together. People who believe in democracy work together. We must stand with all of those that are standing up for democracy and freedom in this world. And let's remind everybody of this:
In 1992, this country made a promise to Ukraine. We said if you return nuclear missiles that were part of the old Soviet Union to Russia and they invade you, we will protect you. An American promise that's 31 years old--we need to stand by it.
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Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Ron DeSantis on Immigration
: Nov 8, 2023
Terrorists have come in through our southern border
Gov. Ron DeSantis: When I'm president, we are not going to send your sons and daughters to Ukraine. I am going to send troops to our southern border. If you look at the threats that we face, terrorists have come in through our southern border.
I'm going to shut it down. I'm going to have the military and I'm going to deport the people who've come, particularly under Biden, who've come from the Middle East, come from all these places.
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Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Tim Scott on War & Peace
: Nov 8, 2023
Our vital interest in Ukraine is degrading Russian military
Sen. Tim Scott: I have been very supportive of Ukraine. I believe that ultimately we should make sure that the President states what is America's national vital interest in Ukraine. It is actually in degrading the Russian military.
We've been very effective using our resources and our weaponry and the incredibly high price of Ukrainian blood to achieve that objective. Every day we get closer to the degradation of the Russian military, and that's good news.
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Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Doug Burgum on Energy & Oil
: Sep 27, 2023
Biden's climate policy is existential threat to America
[On Biden's appeasement of China]: We're in a cold war with China. We're going to give Ukraine to Russia, and then we're going to give Taiwan to China, and think that's a foreign policy? That will make our nation less successful, make us more poor.
And at the core of all that is energy policy, because China imports 10 million barrels of oil a day. They're the largest import in the world. And we have had four Cabinet members from the Biden administration there this summer, and none of them talked
about U.S. energy.
The first one to go to each of those countries was [Climate Envoy John] Kerry to talk about the folly of the climate policy, which is making the world less stable. It's empowering dictators.
It's not about climate change that we need to be worried about. It's about the Biden climate policies that are actually the existential threat to America's future.
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Source: Fox Business 2023 Republican primary debate in Simi Valley
Mike Pence on Foreign Policy
: Sep 27, 2023
Letting Russia take Ukraine lets China take Taiwan
Q: Russian President Putin seeks to work with China to force our decline. US aid to Ukraine so far is $76 billion. Your plan?Gov. Ron DESANTIS [R-FL]: We're not going to get it back.
SCOTT: It's not actually going to be paid by Ukraine.
It's paid our NATO allies. Our national vital interests is in degrading the Russian military. By degrading the Russian military, we actually keep our homeland safer.
Vivek RAMASWAMY [R-OH]: China is the real enemy. And we're driving Russia further into
China's arms. Just because Putin is an evil dictator does not mean that Ukraine is good.
Gov. Nikki HALEY (R-SC): A win for Russia is a win for China.
RAMASWAMY: Nope. The Communist China of Party is the real enemy. We need a reasonable peace
plan to end this.
PENCE: Vivek, if you let Putin have Ukraine, that's a green light to China to take Taiwan. Peace comes through strength.
RAMASWAMY: The Communist China of Party is the real enemy.
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Source: Fox Business 2023 Republican primary debate in Simi Valley
Vivek Ramaswamy on Foreign Policy
: Sep 27, 2023
We're driving Russia into China's arms; end Ukraine aid
Q: Russian President Putin seeks to work with China to force our decline. US aid to Ukraine so far is $76 billion. Your plan?Gov. Ron DESANTIS (R-FL): We are not going to have a blank check.
Sen. Tim SCOTT (R-SC): By degrading the Russian military,
we actually keep our homeland safer, and reduce if not eliminate an attack on NATO territories.
Vivek RAMASWAMY: China is the real enemy. And we're driving Russia further into China's arms. We have to level with the American people on this issue. The
reality is just because Putin is an evil dictator does not mean that Ukraine is good. This is a country that has banned 11 opposition parties...
Gov. Nikki HALEY (R-SC): A win for Russia is a win for China.
RAMASWAMY: That is not true.
HALEY: But
I forgot; you like China.
RAMASWAMY: Nope. The Communist China of Party is the real enemy. We're driving Russia into China's arms. We need a reasonable peace plan to end this. [Ukraine's] president just last week was hailing a Nazi in his own ranks.
Click for Vivek Ramaswamy on other issues.
Source: Fox Business 2023 Republican primary debate in Simi Valley
Chris Christie on Homeland Security
: Sep 27, 2023
We must fight against the Chinese-Russia alliance
Q: Are China, Russia, and Iran closer together because we focused too much on Ukraine?CHRISTIE: No, they're all connected. The Chinese are paying for the Russian war in Ukraine. The Iranians are supplying more sophisticated weapons.
I understand
people want to go and talk to Putin. Guess what? So did George W. Bush. So did Barack Obama. So did Donald Trump. And so did Joe Biden. Every one of them has been wrong.
We need to say right now that the Chinese-Russian alliance is something we have
to fight against. And we are not going to solve it by cuddling up to Vladimir Putin. Putin is murdering people in his own country; he's now going to Ukraine to murder innocent civilians. And if you think that's where it's going to stop, if we give him
any of Ukraine, next will be Poland. Putin in 1991 said that the darkest moment in world history when the Soviet Union fell. Listen, everybody, he wants to put the old band back together. And only America can stop it. And when I'm president, we will.
Click for Chris Christie on other issues.
Source: Fox Business 2023 Republican primary debate in Simi Valley
Ron DeSantis on War & Peace
: Sep 27, 2023
No blank check for Ukraine; end war with Russia
Q: U.S. aid to Ukraine so far is $76 billion. Is it in our best interest to degrade Russia's military for less than 5% of what we pay annually on defense especially when there are no U.S. soldiers in the fight?DESANTIS: It is in our interest to the
end this war, and that's what I will do as president. We are not going to have a blank check. We will not have U.S. troops. We are going to make the Europeans do what they need to do.
Meanwhile, our own country is being invaded. We don't even have
control of our own territory. We have got to defend the American people before we even worry about all these other things. These guys in Washington, D.C. don't care about the American people. They don't care about the communities being overrun because
of this border. So as commander-in-chief, I will defend this country's sovereignty.
U.N. Ambassador Nikki HALEY: But it's not a territorial dispute. It's never been a territorial dispute.
Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues.
Source: Fox Business 2023 Republican primary debate in Simi Valley
Tim Scott on War & Peace
: Sep 27, 2023
Our national interest is to degrade the Russian military
Q: U.S. aid to Ukraine so far is $76 billion. Your plan?Gov. Ron DESANTIS (R-FL): We are not going to have a blank check. We will not have U.S. troops. We are going to make the Europeans do what they need to do.
SCOTT: 90% of the resources that we
send to Ukraine is guaranteed as a loan--
DESANTIS: We're not going to get it back.
SCOTT: It's not actually going to be paid by Ukraine. It's paid our NATO allies. Our national vital interests is in degrading the Russian military.
By degrading the Russian military, we actually keep our homeland safer, we keep our troops at home, and we all understand Article Five of NATO. If you want to keep American troops at home, the attack on NATO territory would bring us and our troops in.
By degrading the Russian military, we reduce if not eliminate an attack on NATO territories.
Vivek RAMASWAMY (R-OH): China is the real enemy. And we're driving Russia further into China's arms.
Click for Tim Scott on other issues.
Source: Fox Business 2023 Republican primary debate in Simi Valley
Joe Biden on War & Peace
: Sep 19, 2023
If Russia prevails in Ukraine can any nation feel secure?
We don't need to agree on everything to keep moving forward on issues like arms control--a cornerstone of international security. After more than 50 years of progress under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Russia is shredding longstanding arms
control agreements, including announcing the suspension of New START and withdrawing from the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. I view it as irresponsible, and it makes the entire world less safe.It is Russia alone that stands in the way of
peace because Russia's price for peace is Ukraine's capitulation, Ukraine's territory, and Ukraine's children. Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence. But I ask you this: If we abandon the
core principles of the [U.N. Charter] to appease an aggressor, can any member state feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Speech to the United Nations (2023 presidential hopefuls)
Ron DeSantis on Drugs
: Aug 23, 2023
Use force at border; leave drug pushers stone-cold dead
As president your first obligation is to defend our country and its people. I am going to declare it a national emergency. I'm not going to send troops to Ukraine, but
I am going to send them to our Southern border. When these drug pushers are bringing fentanyl across the border, that's going to be the last thing they do. We're going to use force and we're going to leave them stone-cold dead.
Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues.
Source: Fox News 2023 Republican primary debate in Milwaukee
Chris Christie on Foreign Policy
: Aug 23, 2023
If we don't stand against autocratic killing, we'll be next
I went to Ukraine, because I wanted to see for myself, what Vladimir Putin's army was doing to the free Ukrainian people. They have gouged out people's eyes, cut off their ears and shot people in the back of the head, men, and then gone into those
homes and raped the daughters and the wives who were left as widows and orphans. This is the Vladimir Putin, who Donald Trump called brilliant and a genius. If we don't stand up against this type of autocratic killing in the world, we will be next.
Click for Chris Christie on other issues.
Source: Fox News 2023 Republican primary debate in Milwaukee
Mike Pence on Homeland Security
: Aug 23, 2023
Supports Reagan Doctrine: peace through strength
We've been the leader of the free world, the arsenal democracy for years. The Reagan Doctrine years ago made it clear, we said, if you're willing to fight the communists on your soil, we'll give you the means to fight them there. So our troops don't
have to fight them.If we give in to Putin to give him his land [in Ukraine], it's not going to be too long for he rolls across a NATO border. And frankly, our men and women of our armed forces are going to have to go and fight him. I want to
let the Ukrainians fight and drive and the Russians back out.
Vladimir Putin has been saying he wants to reestablish the old Soviet sphere of influence. He is a dictator and a murderer and the United States of America needs to stand against
authoritarianism.
Give them a promise that Ukraine will never be an NATO. We achieve peace through strength. And America needs to stand for freedom.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: Fox News 2023 Republican primary debate in Milwaukee
Doug Burgum on Immigration
: Aug 23, 2023
Biden funded 87,000 people at IRS instead of Border Patrol
And we have to be strong, and we have to be strong both in Ukraine, and we can solve the Southern border. Absolutely, we can do that, because guess what? There's only 19,855 authorized people for the Border Patrol. But they're not all
staffed, because the Biden administration doesn't enforce law enforcement. But the Biden administration wanted to put 87,000 people in the IRS, as opposed to giving the money and the support we need to our own Border Patrol.
Click for Doug Burgum on other issues.
Source: Fox News 2023 Republican primary debate in Milwaukee
Ron DeSantis on War & Peace
: Aug 23, 2023
Europe should pull their weight and fund Ukraine war
Q: The US has committed nearly $77 billion in aid to the Ukraine war, and asking Congress for $24 billion more. Is there anyone on stage who would not support the increase of more funding to Ukraine?Vivek RAMASWAMY: I would not support it.
Gov. Ron
DESANTIS: Europe needs to step up and do their job. I will have Europe pull their weight. Right now they're not doing that. I think our support should be contingent on them doing it.
RAMASWAMY: I would not.
And I think that this is disastrous, that we are protecting against an invasion across somebody else's border, when we should use those same military resources to prevent across the invasion of our own southern border.
We are driving Russia further into China's hands. The Russia-China alliance is the single greatest threat we face.
Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues.
Source: Fox News 2023 Republican primary debate in Milwaukee
Vivek Ramaswamy on War & Peace
: Aug 23, 2023
Ukraine not a priority; use military to protect our borders
The real threat we face today is communist China. We are driving Russia further into China's arms. The Russia-China military alliance is the single greatest threat we face. Ukraine is not a priority for the United States of America.
And I do not want to get to the point where we're sending our military resources abroad when we could be better using them here at home to protect our own borders.
Click for Vivek Ramaswamy on other issues.
Source: Fox News 2023 Republican primary debate in Milwaukee
Vivek Ramaswamy on War & Peace
: Aug 23, 2023
Defend our border, not Ukraine's
Q: The US has committed nearly $77 billion in aid to the Ukraine war. Is there anyone on stage who would not support the increase of more funding to Ukraine?A: I would not support it. I think that this is disastrous, that we are protecting against an
invasion across somebody else's border, when we should use those same military resources to prevent across the invasion of our own southern border. We are driving Russia further into China's hands. The Russia-China alliance is the single greatest threat
we face. And I find it offensive, that we have professional politicians on the stage that will make a pilgrimage to Kyiv, to their Pope, Zelenskyy, without doing the same thing for people in Maui or Chicago. Ukraine is not a priority for the United
States. And I think that the same people that took us into Iraq War--you not start another no-win war. And I do not want to get to the point where we're sending our military resources abroad when we could be better using them here at home.
Click for Vivek Ramaswamy on other issues.
Source: Fox News 2023 Republican primary debate in Milwaukee
Francis Suarez on War & Peace
: Aug 18, 2023
Military aid to Ukraine, with NATO equal burden
War in Ukraine: He supports military aid but wants NATO to compel European countries to do more.
Mayor Francis X. Suarez of Miami wants to tie U.S. military aid to new NATO rules requiring Europe to carry an equal burden.
Click for Francis Suarez on other issues.
Source: N.Y. Times on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Ryan Binkley on War & Peace
: Aug 16, 2023
In Ukraine, both sides have got to feel successful
Asked if he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin could negotiate in good faith, Binkley replied, "To end the war, it's going to take everybody walking away feeling like you know what, there's some portion of this thing where they can go back
to their people and say they were successful. I've been involved in over 1,400 mergers and acquisitions of businesses. It's no different."
Click for Ryan Binkley on other issues.
Source: Des Moines Register on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Perry Johnson on Foreign Policy
: Aug 11, 2023
Ridiculous to send $113B to Ukraine when we're going broke
I am pro-life, pro second amendment, anti woke, anti-China.
And by the way, I think it's ridiculous that we are sending $113 billion to the Ukraine when we're going broke here.
Click for Perry Johnson on other issues.
Source: C-SPAN coverage of 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Cornel West on War & Peace
: Jul 28, 2023
End senseless carnage with diplomatic resolution in Ukraine
I would sit down with China's President Xi to talk about these existential crises of climate and war. I would urge him to use his leverage as Russia's number one trade partner to push Putin to the negotiating table, and I would promise to do the same
with Zelensky so we can end this senseless carnage with a diplomatic resolution that addresses neutrality for Ukraine, referendums for the Donbas and Crimea, a demilitarized border, nuclear disarmament and security guarantees for all.
Click for Cornel West on other issues.
Source: Presidential 2024 campaign press release: "War & Climate"
Chase Oliver on Foreign Policy
: Jul 23, 2023
Let NATO & Europe defend Ukraine; US takes refugees
As for Ukraine, Oliver said he believes U.S. support is exacerbating the conflict and does not support putting additional resources into that country's fight with Russia. Instead, he said
NATO and European countries--whom he believes have the financial ability to support Ukraine--need to take the lead, as they're the one's directly threatened by
Russian invasion. "I would push our military footprint back," he said. "I think us contributing to a proxy war in the region is not great."
However, Oliver said the United States should be focused on "working to get every single refugee" out of Ukraine, along with Russian dissidents, and granting them asylum in the U.S.
Click for Chase Oliver on other issues.
Source: Cedar Rapids Gazette on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Chris Christie on Foreign Policy
: Jul 16, 2023
Aid to Ukraine degrades Russian army; sends message to China
I still absolutely believe, both from what've seen in polling and what I'm experiencing anecdotally, that a majority of Republicans want us to be supporting
Ukraine because those folks are fighting for their own freedom, their own liberty, and they're degrading the Russian army and sending a message to the Chinese. Those are all good things for America.
Click for Chris Christie on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week on 2023 Presidential primary hopefuls
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on War & Peace
: Jul 7, 2023
Supports Minsk accord: Independent Donbas & annexed Crimea
Q: What about the Biden Presidency so severely disappoints you that it causes you to run for President?KENNEDY: Number 1, the policies on the war. I think it's very clear that this has little to do with protecting the Ukraine. It's more to do with the
neocon ambition of deposing Vladimir Putin, which I think is very problematic. It's clear from Pres. Biden's direct statements that that is why he believes we should be in Ukraine.
Q: So, would you withdraw military aid to Ukraine?
KENNEDY:
I would end the war. I would negotiate a peace.
Q: Would you allow a peace that allowed much of eastern Ukraine and Crimea to remain in Russian hands?
KENNEDY: The Russians had come to two different peace agreements, both of which were eminently
reasonable. I consider the terms of the Minsk Accords fair. And that's what Russia already offered to sign.
[OTI FactCheck: The Minsk Accords would grant Donbas self-determination on independence from Ukraine, and would leave Crimea annexed to Russia].
Click for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on other issues.
Source: The New Yorker magazine on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Mike Pence on Foreign Policy
: Jul 2, 2023
Russia military conduct isn't just warfare; it's evil
I do know the difference between a genius and a war criminal, and Vladimir Putin's unconscionable and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine was an act of naked aggression. And I was literally on the streets of the city where more than 500 civilians were gunned
down by the Russian military. I mean, the Russian military's conduct, on an ongoing basis, it's not just about warfare. It's evil. And I think that's another reason why we must continue to provide the Ukrainian military with what they need.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Mike Pence on Foreign Policy
: Jul 2, 2023
Arming Ukraine sends a deafening message to communist China
I think there's no more effective way to send a deafening message to communist China to check their military ambitions in the Asia Pacific, then by giving Ukraine what they need to repel the Russian invasion. I know China's watching.
They forge this unlimited partnership with- with Russia, but I gotta note, I've met President Xi, I've also met President Putin. I guarantee you President Xi is watching what's happening in Ukraine very carefully.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: CBS Face the Nation on 2023 Presidential primary hopefuls
Mike Pence on Principles & Values
: Jul 2, 2023
America is the leader of the free world
I went to Ukraine because America is the leader of the free world. We're the arsenal of democracy. I think President Joe Biden has truly failed to explain to the American people what our national interest is there.
I'm someone that believes that it's absolutely essential that the United States continue to provide military support to the Ukrainian military to push back on Russian aggression.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: CBS Face the Nation on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Chris Christie on War & Peace
: Jul 2, 2023
If Russia wins they'd soon cross border requiring US troops
We're there because it's in our national interest to give the Ukrainian military the ability to rebut and defeat Russian aggression.
Because if Russia overran Ukraine, I have no doubt, that it wouldn't be too long before they crossed a border where American servicemen and women would be required to go and fight.
Click for Chris Christie on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week on 2023 Presidential primary hopefuls
Will Hurd on Foreign Policy
: Jun 25, 2023
Push the Russians out of Crimea & out of the Donbass
And one of the things that I was concerned that I'm Secretary Blinken said, he said help the Ukrainians take back land that they lost in the last 16 months? How about we take back land that they lost since 2014? We should be making sure that we're
supporting Ukraine and pushing the Russians out of Crimea, out of the Donbass. And I hope that was just him, misspeaking. And that the official policy is not just going back to the way things were when the Russians most recently invaded 16 months ago.
Click for Will Hurd on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Doug Burgum on Foreign Policy
: Jun 25, 2023
Support Ukraine: an opportunity for US and NATO
This moment [in the war with Ukraine] shows the cracks with Russia and Putin losing his grip on that country. We have an opportunity, along with our NATO partners, in this situation, to really get behind and support Ukraine. Let's give them the support
they need. Let's get this war over now, instead of having it be protracted. I think there's a lot of instability here. And this is an opportunity for the United States and NATO to really secure a position of strength in Eastern Europe.
Click for Doug Burgum on other issues.
Source: CNN interviews on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on War & Peace
: Jun 21, 2023
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is brutal; but not "unprovoked"
Kennedy called the war in Ukraine a "creation of a relentless mentality of foreign domination" on the part of the United States and accusing the West--without evidence--of intentionally sabotaging peace talks in the spring of 2022."I abhor Russia's
brutal and bloody invasion of that nation," Kennedy told the crowd. "But we must understand that our government has also contributed to its circumstances through repeated deliberate provocations of Russia going back to the 1990s."
Kennedy has been a
frequent critic of America's involvement in supporting Ukraine from Russia's invasion, which he has repeatedly referred to as a "proxy war" that he claims is being fought "all for the sake of U.S. (imagined) geopolitical interests."
"They wanted war
as part of their strategic grand plan to destroy any country such as Russia that resists American imperial expansion," Kennedy tweeted in May. "They only pretend to think it was unprovoked. They are lying to us, manufacturing consent for war."
Click for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on other issues.
Source: ABC Politics on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Doug Burgum on Energy & Oil
: Jun 14, 2023
America being truly energy independent stabilizes the globe
A key reason we need to empower American innovation is to dramatically increase energy production. Doug knows we need to stop buying energy from our enemies and start selling energy to our friends and allies. America produces energy cleaner and safer
than anywhere else in the world. When America becomes truly energy independent and supports our allies we prevent wars like Putin started in Ukraine. We stabilize the globe and restore America as the leader of the free world.
Click for Doug Burgum on other issues.
Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website DougBurgum.com
Chris Christie on War & Peace
: Jun 12, 2023
Support for Ukraine is really a proxy war with China
On Ukraine I will say this. I think the way we need to look at this is, this is a proxy war with China. The Chinese are supplying the Russians with money by buying their oil. The Chinese are providing drones to the Iranians, and the Iranians are using
those drones to kill soldiers in Ukraine. So, none of us like the idea that there's a war going on and that we're supporting it. But the alternative is for the Chinese to take over, the Russians, the Iranians, and the North Koreans, a bad foursome.
If I were President Zelenskyy, I'd want everything too. But there's going to come a point, if Ukraine is aggressive enough and we're giving them the arms and support that they need, that both Ukraine and Russia are going to understand that it's
time to end the killing and there may have to be some kind of compromise. That's what we should be in the middle of trying to foster, once we get in a position where Ukraine can protect the land that's been taken by Russia in this latest incursion.
Click for Chris Christie on other issues.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Vivek Ramaswamy on Foreign Policy
: Jun 8, 2023
Shift focus from NATO to PATO, for Pacific/Asian security
[In discussing NATO and Ukraine, Ramaswamy says the US might] "stop paying for the security infrastructure of Europe and revisit the purpose of NATO itself. I see a more pressing need for PATO, the Pacific American Treaty Organization, than I see for
NATO, to actually rise to the occasion of the threat that we see in the 21st century," referencing China.He would seek to form that alliance with South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and "much of Southeast Asia" to push back on Beijing. "I think
there's a world in which Russia even plays a role with that," he said.
The idea of an "Asian NATO" has been around for years, though as of now there's no real movement to create one. The entrepreneur's ultimate vision is one of a "trilateral order"
where the top three powers are the U.S., China and Russia. The key, he argues, is severing ties between Moscow and Beijing to eliminate that support for Xi's government.
Click for Vivek Ramaswamy on other issues.
Source: Politico.com on 2024 Presidential hopefuls
Mike Pence on Foreign Policy
: Jun 7, 2023
We need to provide Ukraine with resources to repel Russia
I know that some in this debate have called the war in Ukraine a territorial dispute. It's not. It was a Russian invasion, an unprovoked Russian invasion. And I believe the United States of America needs to continue to provide the courageous soldiers in
Ukraine with the resources they need to repel that Russian invasion and restore their territorial integrity. We're the leader of the free world. We're the arsenal of democracy.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Chris Christie on War & Peace
: Jun 6, 2023
Trump not backing Ukraine makes him Putin's puppet
[On Trump's involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war]: "I think he's a coward and I think he's a puppet of Putin," Christie told radio host Hugh Hewitt. "I don't know why, to tell you the truth, but I can't figure it out, but there's no other conclusion to
come to."That Trump wouldn't back Ukraine "was the most stunning moment in the debate," Christie said. "If you don't say that you think Ukraine should win the war, I don't know where you stand with Putin."
Click for Chris Christie on other issues.
Source: Politico.com blog on 2024 Presidential hopefuls
Vivek Ramaswamy on Foreign Policy
: Jun 4, 2023
Opposing Russia in Ukraine is not a top priority for us
Q: You do not believe that Russia taking over Ukraine would be bad for our national interest?
RAMASWAMY: I do not think it is a top foreign policy priority for us. I don't think it is preferable for Russia to be able to invade a sovereign country that is its neighbor. But I think the job of the U.S. president is to look after American interests.
Click for Vivek Ramaswamy on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Nikki Haley on War & Peace
: Jun 4, 2023
War in Ukraine is about freedom--one we have to win
This is bigger than Ukraine. This is a war about freedom. And it's one we have to win. You look at those Ukrainians, and what did they do when Russia invaded their freedoms? They moved in there, went to the front lines, and fought for their country.
What we have to understand is a win for Ukraine is a win for all of us, because tyrants tell us exactly what they're going to do.
So when you're dealing with Russia and China, I'll give you an example. The Russian plane knocked down our U.S. drone a couple of weeks ago.
Remember that? What do we do about it? Nothing. You know what I would have done if I was president? Put two drones up there in a fighter jet and put our naval fleet back in the Black Sea because it never should have left in the first place.
Click for Nikki Haley on other issues.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Donald Trump on War & Peace
: May 10, 2023
Claims he could end Russia/Ukraine war in 24 hours
Q: The current administration [will] continue to provide military equipment to Ukraine, so that they can defend themselves [against Russia]. Do you support this decision? TRUMP: Because we're giving away so much equipment, we don't want have
ammunition for ourselves right now. But I were president, this would have never happened. Now, here's the problem. We've given so far $171 billion. The European Union, which is approximately the same size altogether as our economy, they've given about
$20 billion.
Q: But would you give Ukraine weapons and funding if you were elected?
TRUMP: If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours.
Q: How?
TRUMP: I'll meet with Putin, I'll meet with Zelenskyy. And within 24 hours,
that war with be settled. It'll be over.
Q: Do you want Ukraine to win this war?
TRUMP: I don't think in terms of winning and losing. I think in terms of getting it settled, so stop killing all these people.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Nikki Haley on Foreign Policy
: May 7, 2023
Never trust Russia; it is never going to be our friend
When it came to denouncing Russia, Nikki did not mince words. Her first speech before the UN Security Council in 2017 criticized Russia for invading Ukraine. She continued to hammer Russia for its military aggression and poison attacks and demanded
that the UN take up the issue instead of protecting Russia. Nikki was one of the administration's fiercest critics of Russia, declaring that "we should never trust Russia" and Russia is "never going to be our friend."
Click for Nikki Haley on other issues.
Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website NikkiHaley.com
Joe Biden on Principles & Values
: May 7, 2023
FactCheck: Hunter Biden accepted money from foreign sources
Q: Democrats say that there's been a lot of bluster, but nothing proven, involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.Newt GINGRICH: Here are facts. The widow of the Moscow mayor
sent millions of dollars to Hunter Biden. He got money from Kazakhstan. He got money from Ukraine and served on a board about which he knew nothing. He got a lot of money from China. And it's a fact that $3 million that has been disclosed that went to
the Biden family from a Chinese billionaire. Now, you can decide that none of this stuff matters. But the fact is, you have the Vice President taking his son on Air Force Two into China where his son was making business deals.
And he's a sex addict, he's an alcoholic, he's a drug addict.
Q: Is nepotism a crime?
GINGRICH: If you listen to his description of Hunter, why would anyone invest in Hunter? They were investing in Joe.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Fox News Sunday on 2023 DOJ Investigation of Hunter Biden
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on War & Peace
: May 4, 2023
Find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine
As President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong. We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia's borders.
Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence. UN peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions. We will put an end to this war.
Click for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on other issues.
Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website kennedy24.com
Perry Johnson on Civil Rights
: Apr 22, 2023
Transition therapy for minors is child abuse
[On federal priorities]: "Number one, I want to start a program where we balance the budget to stop inflation. Number two, never again will we allow transition therapy for minors. It is child abuse," [Perry] Johnson said. "Number three, you may not
like this, but I'm getting rid of the Department of Education. And I know you guys are gonna throw stones at me, but I disagree with our Vice President about Ukraine. I think it's ridiculous to send $100 million to the Ukraine."
Click for Perry Johnson on other issues.
Source: Iowa Capital Dispatch on 2023 Faith & Freedom Coalition
Perry Johnson on Foreign Policy
: Apr 22, 2023
I think it's ridiculous to send $100 million to the Ukraine
[On federal spending priorities]: "Number one, I want to start a program where we balance the budget to stop inflation. Number two, never again will we allow transition therapy for minors. It is child abuse," [Perry] Johnson said. "Number three, you may
not like this, but I'm getting rid of the Department of Education. And I know you guys are gonna throw stones at me, but I disagree with our Vice President about Ukraine. I think it's ridiculous to send $100 million to the Ukraine."
Click for Perry Johnson on other issues.
Source: Iowa Capital Dispatch on 2023 Faith & Freedom Coalition
Joe Biden on War & Peace
: Feb 7, 2023
America is united in support of Ukraine as long as it takes
Together, we did what America always does at our best. We led. We united NATO and built a global coalition. We stood against Putin's aggression. We stood with the Ukrainian people. Tonight, we are once again joined by
Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States. She represents not just her nation, but the courage of her people. Ambassador, America is united in our support for your country. We will stand with you as long as it takes.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: 2023 State of the Union speech as prepared for delivery
Corey Stapleton on Foreign Policy
: Jan 20, 2023
Sustained peace gained by strength of US, European allies
Stapleton stressed the importance of continued U.S. support and encouraged Congress to stand firm with Ukraine, citing the lessons of history. "The diplomatic solution to the Russian-Ukrainian war can be found, but it must involve strength and unity
from the West. Similar to the Cold War, sustained peace is gained not by force, but strength and resolve between America and our European allies," Stapleton said.
Click for Corey Stapleton on other issues.
Source: Yahoo Finance on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
JD Vance on Foreign Policy
: Oct 10, 2022
Put Americans first in response to Russia-Ukraine war
[Democratic opponent Rep. Tim] Ryan and Vance want the U.S. to have different roles in the war between Ukraine and Russia. When asked how the U.S. should respond if Russian President Putin uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine, Vance said "nobody knows"
what the best course of action would be. He went on to argue that foreign policy should put Americans first, and he believes the Biden administration hasn't done enough to deescalate the conflict.Ryan called for a "swift and significant response" if
that occurs and argued Vance is weak on Russia. The congressman also criticized his opponent for saying he doesn't "really care what happens to Ukraine."
"I've been to Parma," said Ryan, referring to the Cleveland suburb with a large Ukrainian-
American population. "I've met with the refugees. I meet with the women and the daughters and sons because the husbands are in Ukraine fighting. That's the kind of freedom we need to support, and J.D. Vance would let Putin roll right through Ukraine."
Click for JD Vance on other issues.
Source: The Columbus Dispatch on 2022 Ohio Senate race
Dean Phillips on War & Peace
: Apr 27, 2022
Defend Ukraine's sovereignty & seize Russian assets
Rep. Phillips cosponsored [as of 3/31/22], and voted in favor of, H.R.6930, the Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act. This bill passed the House 417-8 and has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The legislation establishes
a working group to determine the legal mechanisms that may be used to seize assets belonging to certain foreign entities affiliated with Russia's political leadership and addresses related issues. - April 27, 2022.Rep. Phillips became an original
cosponsor of H.R.6470 Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022: To counter the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and Eastern European allies, to expedite security assistance to Ukraine to bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities, and
to impose sanctions relating to the actions of the Russian Federation with respect to Ukraine, and for other purposes. The bill has been referred to a few committees. - Jan. 21, 2022
Click for Dean Phillips on other issues.
Source: Minnesota Peace Project on 2023 Presidential hopefuls
Tim Walz on War & Peace
: Apr 1, 2022
Support Ukraine; withdraw investments from Russia & Belarus
On March 4, 2022, I signed Executive Order 22-03, condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine and supporting the people of Ukraine by requiring that state agencies terminate existing contracts with Russian entities and refrain from entering into future
contracts with Russian entities.On March 7, 2022, I called on the Minnesota Legislature to act to withdraw state investments in Russian businesses and institutions. This week, the Legislature passed a bill to withdraw state investments from Russian &
Belarusian entities. MN Laws 2022, Chapter 43, codifies the directives in Executive Order 22-03. As a result of this codification into Minnesota law, Executive Order 22-03 is no longer necessary.
I urge all people in Minnesota to support their
Ukrainian neighbors and donate to organizations supporting Ukrainian humanitarian efforts. I also urge Minnesotans to support our fellow Russian Minnesotans, many of whom are horrified and alarmed by the Russian government's aggression toward Ukraine.
Click for Tim Walz on other issues.
Source: Minnesota voting records: Executive Order 22-06
Marco Rubio on War & Peace
: Mar 6, 2022
A no-fly zone in Ukraine means World War III
A no-fly zone has become a catchphrase. I'm not sure a lot of people fully understand what that means. That means flying AWACs 24 hours a day. That means the willingness to shoot down and engagement Russian airplanes in the sky.
That means you can't put those planes up there unless you're willing to knock out the anti-aircraft systems that the Russians have deployed, and not just in Ukraine, but in Russia and also in Belarus. So basically a no-fly zone means World War III.
Click for Marco Rubio on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week on 2022 Florida Senate race
Larry Elder on War & Peace
: Mar 3, 2022
Biden should have done more to prevent Ukraine invasion
More could have and should have been done by President Joe Biden and our European allies to prevent this invasion. Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan caused China, Iran and North Korea to perceive Biden as weak. During 2021,
America, according to the Energy Information Administration, imported a monthly average of 670,000 barrels per day of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia, smashing the previous record set in 2011.
Click for Larry Elder on other issues.
Source: Presidential 2024 campaign press release on Creators.com
Joe Biden on Principles & Values
: Mar 1, 2022
Democracies rising to the moment in battle with autocracy
When the history of this era is written Putin's war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger. We see the unity among leaders of nations and a more unified Europe a more unified West.
In the battle between democracy and autocracy, democracies are rising to the moment, and the world is clearly choosing the side of peace and security.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Joe Biden on War & Peace
: Mar 1, 2022
Military & humanitarian assistance, but no troops to Ukraine
Along with 27 members of the European Union, we are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine. Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever.Together with our allies--we are right now enforcing powerful economic sanctions.
The U.S. Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs.
Together with our allies we are providing support to the Ukrainians in their fight for freedom. Military assistance. Economic assistance.
Humanitarian assistance. We are giving more than $1 Billion in direct assistance to Ukraine.
Let me be clear, our forces are not engaged and will not engage in conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine.
As I have made crystal clear the United States and our Allies will defend every inch of territory of NATO countries with the full force of our collective power.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Joe Biden on War & Peace
: Mar 1, 2022
Make dictators pay a price; American resolve matters
Russia's Vladimir Putin badly miscalculated. He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined. He met the Ukrainian people. From President Zelenskyy to every Ukrainian,
their fearlessness, their courage, their determination, inspires the world. Groups of citizens blocking tanks with their bodies. Everyone from students to retirees teachers turned soldiers defending their homeland.
Let each of us here tonight in this
Chamber send an unmistakable signal to Ukraine and to the world. Throughout our history we've learned this lesson when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And the costs and the threats to
America and the world keep rising.
That's why the NATO Alliance was created to secure peace and stability in Europe after World War 2. It matters. American diplomacy matters. American resolve matters.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Donald Trump on War & Peace
: Feb 26, 2022
Only modern president where Russia didn't invade a country
As everyone understands this horrific disaster would never happened if our election was not rigged and if I was the president. Very simply it would not of happened. Under Bush, Russia invaded Georgia. Under Obama,
Russia took Crimea. Under Biden, Russia invaded Ukraine. i stand as the only president of the 21st century on whose watch Russia did not invade another country.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Speech at the 2022 CPAC Conference in Orlando FL
Kamala Harris on Homeland Security
: Feb 19, 2022
Target Russian finances to oppose Ukraine invasion
Vice President Kamala Harris told the Munich Security Conference that the Western alliance faced a "defining moment" in the Ukraine crisis and warned Russia's leaders that if they invaded Ukraine, the US and its allies would target not only financial
institutions and technology exports to Russia, but also "those who are complicit and those who aid and direct this unprovoked invasion.""This playbook is all too familiar to us all," she said of the events unfolding near Ukraine's borders. "Russia
will plead ignorance and innocence. It will create false pretexts for invasion, and it will amass troop and firepower in plain sight."
Ms. Harris argued in her speech that the crisis had driven NATO allies together. "As President Biden has said, our
forces will not be deployed to fight inside Ukraine," she said, touching on--but not exploring--the decision to leave the fighting to Ukraine's own military. "But they will defend every inch of NATO territory."
Click for Kamala Harris on other issues.
Source: New York Times on 2024 Presidential Hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on Foreign Policy
: Feb 8, 2022
Russia has been clear about keeping Ukraine out of NATO
Russia sees the threat of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO), a military alliance originally created in 1949 to confront the Soviet Union. It is good to know some history. When Ukraine became independent after the Soviet Union
collapsed in 1991, Russian leaders made clear their concerns about the prospect of former Soviet states becoming part of NATO and positioning hostile military forces along Russia's border. US leaders recognized these concerns as legitimate at the time.
They are still legitimate concerns. Invasion by Russia is not an answer; neither is intransigence by NATO. It is also important to recognize that Finland, one of the most developed and democratic countries in the world, borders Russia and has chosen not
to be a member of NATO.Putin may be a liar and a demagogue, but it is hypocritical for the US to insist that we do not accept the principle of "spheres of influence" [which Putin claims as the rationale for keeping Ukraine out of NATO].
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: The Guardian on 2024 Presidential Hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on Homeland Security
: Feb 8, 2022
Cuba is in US sphere of influence; Ukraine is in Russia's
Putin may be a liar and a demagogue, but it is hypocritical for the US to insist that we do not accept the principle of "spheres of influence". For the last 200 years our country has operated under the Monroe Doctrine. Under this doctrine we have
undermined and overthrown at least a dozen governments. In 1962 we came to the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union in response to the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from our shore, which the
Kennedy administration saw as an unacceptable threat to our national security.To put it simply, even if Russia was not ruled by a corrupt authoritarian leader like Vladimir Putin, Russia, like the United States, would still have an
interest in the security policies of its neighbors. Does anyone really believe that the United States would not have something to say if, for example, Mexico was to form a military alliance with a US adversary?
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: The Guardian on 2024 Presidential Hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on War & Peace
: Feb 8, 2022
Invading Ukraine is wrong, but no need to "get tough"
In my view, we must unequivocally support the sovereignty of Ukraine and make clear that the international community will impose severe consequences on Putin and his associates if he does not change course.With that said, I am extremely concerned
when I hear the familiar drumbeats in Washington, the bellicose rhetoric that gets amplified before every war, demanding that we must "show strength", "get tough" and not engage in "appeasement". A simplistic refusal to recognize the complex roots of
the tensions in the region undermines the ability of negotiators to reach a peaceful resolution.
One of the precipitating factors of this crisis, at least from Russia's perspective, is the prospect of an enhanced security relationship between
Ukraine and the US and western Europe, including what Russia sees as the threat of Ukraine joining NATO
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: The Guardian on 2024 Presidential Hopefuls
Marco Rubio on War & Peace
: Feb 6, 2022
There is no U.S. combat role in Ukraine; use sanctions
I want it to be clear. There is no U.S. combat role in Ukraine. There isn't going to be one. I don't know of anyone who supports it, not even the Ukrainians. That said, I think that Vladimir Putin has to pay a high price if
he does this, not just for him to pay the price, but for other countries to see the high price of doing that kind of thing and other leaders. His economy should be crippled and hurt badly.
Click for Marco Rubio on other issues.
Source: CBS Face the Nation on 2022 Florida Senate race
Donald Trump on Foreign Policy
: Jul 15, 2021
Nobody was tougher on Russia than me, and they respected us
A 2016 report prepared by Putin's expert department recommended Moscow use 'all possible force' to ensure a Trump presidential victory.Independent experts say the report--"No 32-04\vd"--appears to be genuine.
The UK's former ambassador in Moscow
said, "There is no sense Russia might have made a mistake by invading Ukraine. There is a good deal of paranoia. They believe the US is responsible for everything."
Trump did not initially respond to a request for comment. Later, his spokesperson,
issued a statement: "This is disgusting. It's fake news, just like RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA was fake news. It's just the Radical Left crazies doing whatever they can to demean everybody. It's fiction, and nobody was tougher on Russia than me, including on
the pipeline, and sanctions. At the same time we got along with Russia. Russia respected us, China respected us, Iran respected us, North Korea respected us. And the world was a much safer place than it is now with mentally unstable leadership."
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: The Guardian on Trump Impeachment
Joe Biden on Foreign Policy
: Oct 22, 2020
Mueller Report: I did nothing wrong; Trump bribed Ukraine
On the Mueller Report impeachment investigation: TRUMP: I was put through a phony witch hunt for three years. It started before I got elected. They spied on my campaign. Let me just say this, Mueller and 18 angry Democrats and FBI agents all over the
place spent $48 million. They went through everything I had, including my tax returns, and they found absolutely no collusion and nothing wrong. $48 million. I guarantee you, if I spent $1 million on you, Joe, I could find plenty wrong.
BIDEN:
I later learned of Burisma, a company that somehow, I had done something wrong, yet every single person, when he was going through his impeachment, testifying under oath, said I did my job impeccably. I carried out U.S. policy, not one single solitary
thing was out of line. Number two, the guy who got in trouble in Ukraine was this guy trying to bribe the Ukrainian government to say something negative about me, which they would not do and did not do because it never ever, ever happened.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Oct 22, 2020
The Mueller investigation was an expensive witch hunt
TRUMP: There has been nobody tougher than me on Russia, between the sanctions, between all of what I've done with NATO. I've got the NATO countries to put up an extra $130 billion a year. That's to guard against Russia. While he was selling pillows and
sheets, I sold tank busters to Ukraine.BIDEN: Every single person, when he was going through his impeachment, said I did my job impeccably, not one single solitary thing was out of line. The guy who got in trouble in Ukraine was this guy trying to
bribe the Ukrainian government to say something negative about me, which they would not do and did not do because it never ever, ever happened.
TRUMP: I was put through a phony witch hunt for three years. It started before I got elected. They spied
on my campaign. Let me just say this, Mueller and 18 angry Democrats and FBI agents all over the place spent $48 million. They went through everything I had, including my tax returns, and they found absolutely no collusion and nothing wrong.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker
Donald Trump on War & Peace
: Sep 8, 2020
Hard line against Russia: sanctions & diplomatic expulsions
Unlike the Obama administration, the Trump administration had actually taken a hard line against Russia, which the media hardly ever reported because it didn't fit their Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Since taking office, President Trump had imposed
crippling sanctions on Russia; closed Russian diplomatic properties in the United States and expelled Russian spies pretending to be diplomats; approved the sale of lethal arms to Ukraine to defend against Russian aggression; persuaded
NATO allies to increase their military spending to deter Russia; isolated and sanctioned Russia's worst proxies: Iran and Venezuela; made
America the number one producer of oil and gas, lowering the cost of energy and hurting the Russian economy; and rebuilt our military so that neither Russia nor any other foreign adversary could challenge the United States.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Speaking for Myself, by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, p.167-8
Joe Biden on Foreign Policy
: Feb 5, 2020
Putin wants to weaken NATO and democracy
Q: Russian President Vladimir Putin has interfered with Georgian, Ukrainian, French, German, U.K., and U.S. elections. He has occupied territories of Georgia and Ukraine. What will you do to end all of these attacks, which some have said are acts of war?
BIDEN: Well, I think they are. They're acts that are violating our sovereignty. I'm the guy who went over to our NATO colleagues and worked out an agreement before their last series of elections a year and a half ago, where we got everybody running
for office to take a pledge that they would let anyone know that if there was any interference taking place, they would reject any outside help. And one of the very reasons why the president got impeached is because he went to outside folks, seeking
help in our election. Putin is a guy who, in fact, is not anything remotely approaching a democrat with a small "d." His entire objective is to weaken Eastern Europe, bring down NATO, so that he does not have to face the constituency he faces now.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: CNN N. H. Town Hall on eve of 2020 N. H. primary
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Jan 16, 2020
GAO Report: Withholding allocated Ukraine funds violated law
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a legal opinion saying that President Trump's administration broke the law by withholding defense aid to Ukraine--the issue at the heart of the president's impeachment trial. That money, $214 million
which had been allocated for security assistance, was appropriated by Congress & therefore the administration did not have the right to hold it back just because it disagreed with its allocation, the opinion from the nonpartisan government watchdog said.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Fox News analysis of impeaching Trump
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Dec 31, 2019
Pushed false theory that Ukraine framed Russia over meddling
Claim 1: Ukraine interfered in the 2016 electionThis claim is false, according to the unanimous assessment of the U.S. intelligence community and the former special counsel Robert Mueller, who spent two years investigating
Russia's election interference effort. The Russian government, not Ukraine, interfered in the 2016 election "in sweeping and systematic fashion," the
Mueller report concluded, working to boost Trump's bid while damaging his Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Trump repeatedly pushed or referenced a conspiracy theory that
Ukraine and the Democrats framed Russia for election meddling in an attempt to discredit his presidency.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: NBC News analysis of impeaching Trump
Joe Biden on Principles & Values
: Dec 31, 2019
No evidence of any corruption by Biden in Ukraine
Trump has said he discussed political rival Biden with the president of Ukraine for one reason: a desire to root out corruption. The former vice president,
Trump said, wielded his influence to benefit his son Hunter's private-sector work in Ukraine. But despite Trump's continued claims, there's no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of either Biden.
Removing that prosecutor was U.S. policy under the administration of President Barack Obama. U.S. officials testified as part of the impeachment inquiry into
Trump that there was no evidence Biden himself worked toward anything other than enacting U.S. policy.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: NBC News analysis of impeaching Trump
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Dec 31, 2019
OpEd: Trump's attack on Ukraine politically driven falsehood
FactCheck on Claim 1: Ukraine interfered in the 2016 electionTrump's former Russia expert, Fiona Hill, called the idea that Ukraine meddled in 2016 a "fictional narrative" promoted by Russian intelligence and rebuked House
Republicans for using it to defend the president against impeachment. "In the course of this investigation,
I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests," Hill said in her opening statement to Congress. "I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the
Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine--not Russia --attacked us in 2016."
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: NBC News analysis of impeaching Trump
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Dec 30, 2019
Repeatedly blocked impeachment witnesses from testifying
Sen. Chuck Schumer renewed his call for White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in the Senate impeachment trial after The NY Times published new details about the effort to withhold aid
to Ukraine. "Simply put: In our fight to have key documents and witnesses in a Senate impeachment trial, these new revelations are a game-changer," Schumer said at a news conference. The White House has repeatedly blocked witnesses from testifying.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Poltiico.com analysis of impeaching Trump
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Dec 17, 2019
OpEd: "Perfect" call a smoking gun rather than exoneration
[Analysis of Trump Letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi]: "Fortunately, there was a transcript of the conversation taken, and you know from the transcript (which was immediately made available) that the paragraph in question was perfect."
Here are 4 facts from that July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: - Trump tells Zelensky that the US does a lot for Ukraine
- Trump reminds Zelensky that Ukraine doesn't reciprocate
-
Trump asks Zelensky for a favor: to look into a debunked conspiracy theory that the hacked Democratic National Committee server is in Ukraine and
- Trump asks Zelensky to look into Joe and Hunter Biden.
To my mind, the White House transcript of that call reads more like a smoking gun than an exoneration.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: CNN analysis of Letter from President on impeaching Trump
Tulsi Gabbard on Principles & Values
: Oct 15, 2019
Supports impeachment inquiry providing info to Americans
The serious issues that have been raised around this phone call that he had with the president of Ukraine and many other things that transpired around that are what caused
me to support the inquiry in the House and I think that it should continue to play its course out together. All the information, provide that to the American people, recognizing that that is the only way forward.
Click for Tulsi Gabbard on other issues.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Sep 21, 2019
LameStream Media are the Enemy of the People
Tweet from President Trump: "The LameStream Media had a very bad week [reporting on President Trump's repeated requests to Ukraine to investigate the son of former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, and the "whistleblower complaint" that sparked
the reporting]. They pushed numerous phony stories and got caught, especially The Failing New York Times, which has lost more money over the last 10 years than any paper in history, and The Amazon Washington Post. They are The Enemy of the People!
The Fake News Media nowadays not only doesn't check for the accuracy of the facts, they knowingly make up the facts.
They even make up sources in order to protect their partners, the Democrats. It is so wrong, but they don't even care anymore. They have gone totally CRAZY!!!!"
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Twitter postings by 2020 presidential hopefuls
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Apr 29, 2019
OpEd: Russia helped Trump so they'd control eastern Ukraine
What the Mueller Report says:The Aug. 2, 2016 meeting included the start of what would be a series of discussions between Manafort & Kilimnik about a so-called peace plan for Ukraine, which Manafort admitted to prosecutors was "a backdoor
means for Russia to control eastern Ukraine."Supplemental information and analysis:A senior prosecutor in the Special Counsel's Office said that the Aug. 2 meeting goes "very much to the heart of what the Special Counsel's Office is
investigating."
Caveats:Although Kilimnik and Manafort shared the view that Trump's support for the Ukraine peace plan would help it succeed, "the investigation did not uncover evidence of Manafort's passing along information about
Ukrainian peace plans to the candidate or anyone else." The Report then notes that Manafort lied to the Special Counsel Office about the peace plan & his meetings with Kilimnik. Also, Kilimnik continued "to promote the peace plan into the summer 2018."
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Ryan Goodman, JustSecurity.org on Mueller Report
Donald Trump on Principles & Values
: Apr 23, 2019
Campaign manager convicted: conspiracy with Ukraine & Russia
Paul Manafort was charged in federal court on October 30, 2017, then convicted on eight felony counts.Mueller's 24-page statement of offenses describes all of Paul Manafort's crimes. He agreed that he conspired against the US by illegally laundering
through offshore accounts the $60 million he earned in Ukraine from 2006 to 2016. He evaded $15 million in US taxes. He failed to register as a foreign lobbyist while helping his Ukraine clients press their views in Washington.
The conduct outlined by
Mueller painted a devastating portrait of Donald Trump's campaign chairman. Manafort had volunteered to work for Trump for free but was drowning in debt at the time. He appeared eager to use his campaign role to angle for money from his wealthy patrons
in Ukraine and Russia, working in concert with an alleged Russian intelligence asset. His service for Trump coincided with the ramp-up of Russians intervention in the US election and a ratcheting-up of Trump's pro-Russia campaign rhetoric.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Mueller Report: Washington Post Related Materials, p.617-8
Marco Rubio on Government Reform
: Jul 22, 2018
Sanctions against Russia for interfering in 2016 election
Q: Do you agree with the intelligence community's report on Russian election interference?RUBIO: I think their assessment of 2016 is 100% accurate. The Russians interfered in our elections. Not only that, I believe that will do so again in the future.
And it presents a unique situation. On the one hand, the Trump administration's policies on Russia have been tougher than anything anyone could have imagined. They provided offensive capabilities to Ukraine. Their sanctions have exceeded what many in
Congress have even asked for.
Q: But Trump seems incongruous on Russia. His comments don't match that.
RUBIO: Right. The rhetoric can undermine policy. But we need to focus on now is deterring future attacks by putting in place immediate sanctions
that take hold if they do this again.
Q: And you have got a bill proposing something along those lines?
RUBIO: Yes. We should never be tolerant of any country in the world coming into our own country and trying to pit us against each other.
Click for Marco Rubio on other issues.
Source: CBS Face the Nation 2018 interviews of 2020 hopefuls
Joe Biden on Foreign Policy
: Nov 14, 2017
Russia vs. Ukraine: Big country beating up a smaller one
In 2015, Putin-backed separatists made an assault on Ukrainian soldiers. Putin was doing everything he could to destabilize the Ukrainian economy and force a collapse of the newly elected government in Kyiv.I was the point man for our administration
on the crisis, which was exactly where I wanted to be. There were academics in the news saying Ukraine was bound to be a defeat for the West, & it would be an unwelcome albatross on my neck if I ran for president in 2016. "He's tied to Ukraine policy,"
a presidential scholar from Pennsylvania told a reporter. "So he could be vulnerable." I didn't much care. There was an important principle at stake: big countries ought not to beat up smaller ones, especially after they had given their word not to.
Ukraine had given up its nuclear weapons program years earlier--in return for a guarantee from the U.S., the United Kingdom, AND RUSSIA to respect its borders and its sovereignty. Two of the three larger countries had kept that promise.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Promise Me, Dad,by Joe Biden, p. 99-101
Joe Biden on War & Peace
: Nov 14, 2017
Inviolate borders for Ukraine; no spheres of influence
[I presented my views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Senate floor], that it is not the objective to collapse or weaken the Russian economy. But President Putin has to make a simple, stark choice: get out of Ukraine or face continued isolation
and growing economic costs at home."I did stand here six years ago and in the first major foreign policy address of our administration, I spoke about the 'reset,'" We have moved from resetting this important relationship to reasserting the
fundamental bedrock principles on which European freedom and stability rest. And I'll say it again: inviolate borders, no spheres of influence, the sovereign right to choose your own alliances. I cannot repeat that often enough. We need
to remain resolute and united in our support of Ukraine. What happens there will resonate well beyond Ukraine. It matters to all--not just in Europe, but around the world--all who may be subject to aggression."
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Promise Me, Dad,by Joe Biden, p.105-7
Mike Pence on Homeland Security
: Oct 4, 2016
Rebuild military and project American strength in the world
Hillary Clinton's top priority when she became secretary of state was the Russian reset. After the Russian reset, the Russians invaded Ukraine and took over Crimea. And the small and bullying leader of Russia is now dictating terms to the US [in Syria].
Look, we have got to begin to lean into this with strong, broad-shouldered American leadership.I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength. It begins by rebuilding our military. And the Russians & the
Chinese have been making enormous investments in the military. We have the smallest Navy since 1916. We have the lowest number of troops since the end of the Second World War. We've got to work with Congress, and Donald Trump will, to rebuild our
military & project American strength in the world. We've just got to have American strength on the world stage. When Donald Trump becomes president, the Russians and other countries in the world will know they're dealing with a strong American president.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: 2016 Vice-Presidential Debate at Longwood University
Mike Pence on Homeland Security
: Oct 4, 2016
Rebuild military and project American strength in the world
Hillary Clinton's top priority when she became secretary of state was the Russian reset. After the Russian reset, the Russians invaded Ukraine and took over Crimea. And the small and bullying leader of Russia is now dictating terms to the US [in Syria].
Look, we have got to begin to lean into this with strong, broad-shouldered American leadership.I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength. It begins by rebuilding our military. And the Russians & the
Chinese have been making enormous investments in the military. We have the smallest Navy since 1916. We have the lowest number of troops since the end of the Second World War. We've got to work with Congress, and Donald Trump will, to rebuild our
military & project American strength in the world. We've just got to have American strength on the world stage. When Donald Trump becomes president, the Russians and other countries in the world will know they're dealing with a strong American president.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: 2016 Vice-Presidential Debate at Longwood University
Bernie Sanders on Foreign Policy
: Feb 11, 2016
Beef up NATO against Russian aggression
Russia's aggressive actions in the Crimea and Ukraine have brought about a situation where President Obama and NATO--correctly, I believe--are saying we're going to beef up our troop level in that part of the world to tell
Putin that his aggressiveness is not going to go unmatched. We have to work with NATO to protect Eastern Europe against any kind of Russian aggression.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: 2016 PBS Democratic debate in Wisconsin
Donald Trump on Foreign Policy
: Nov 10, 2015
Let Russia bash ISIS; let Germany defend Ukraine
Q: Russia has invaded Ukraine, and has put troops in Syria. You have said you will have a good relationship with Mr. Putin. So, what does President Trump do in response to Russia's aggression?TRUMP: As far as Syria, if Putin wants to go and knock
the hell out of ISIS, I am all for it, 100%, and I can't understand how anybody would be against it.
Q: They're not doing that.
TRUMP: They blew up a Russian airplane. He cannot be in love with these people.
He's going in, and we can go in, and everybody should go in. As far as the Ukraine is concerned, we have a group of people, and a group of countries, including Germany--why are we always doing the work? I'm all for protecting Ukraine--but, we have
countries that are surrounding the Ukraine that aren't doing anything. They say, "Keep going, keep going, you dummies, keep going. Protect us." And we have to get smart. We can't continue to be the policeman of the world.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Fox Business/WSJ First Tier debate
Bernie Sanders on Foreign Policy
: Oct 13, 2015
Putin regrets invading Crimea & the Ukraine
Q [to Clinton]: What about Putin's actions involving Russia in Syria [bombing ISIS to defend President Assad]?CLINTON: We have an opportunity here--and inside the administration this is being hotly debated--to get that leverage to try to get the
Russians to have to deal with everybody in the region and begin to move toward a political, diplomatic solution in Syria.
Q [to Sanders]: Putin in Syria?
SANDERS: I think Mr. Putin is going to regret what he is doing.
Q: He doesn't seem to be the
type of guy to regret a lot.
SANDERS: I think he's already regretting what he did in Crimea and what he is doing in the Ukraine. I think he is really regretting the decline of his economy. And I think what he is trying to do now is save some face.
But I think when Russians get killed in Syria and when he gets bogged down, I think the Russian people are going to give him a message that maybe they should come home, maybe they should start working with the United States to rectify the situation now.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: 2015 CNN Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas
Donald Trump on Foreign Policy
: Aug 17, 2015
Support NATO, but it's not us against Russia
Q: You wrote, "Pulling back from Europe would save this country millions of dollars annually. The cost of stationing NATO troops in Europe is enormous. And these are clearly funds that can be put to better use." Would you want to end the NATO alliance
completely?TRUMP: I'm a little concerned about NATO from this standpoint. Take Ukraine. We're leading Ukraine. Where's Germany? Where are the countries of Europe leading? I don't mind helping them. Why isn't Germany leading this charge? Why is the
United States? I mean, we're like the policemen of the world. And why are we leading the charge in Ukraine?
Q: So you wouldn't allow Ukraine into NATO?
TRUMP: I would not care that much. Whether it goes in or doesn't go in, I wouldn't care. Look,
I would support NATO.
Q: It sounds like you're not a fan of NATO
TRUMP: I'm a fan of fairness. I'm a fan of common sense. I'm certainly not a fan of us being against Russia. Why are we always at the forefront of everything?
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Meet the Press 2015 interview, on Foreign Influences
Jill Stein on Foreign Policy
: Jul 6, 2015
Work towards neutral Ukraine; don't arm them against Russia
OnTheIssues: Should we help Ukraine against Russia?Stein: We should encourage Ukraine to be neutral--we helped foment a coup against a democratically-elected government, [resulting in a government] where ultra-nationalists and ex-Nazis came to power.
Imagine the inverse: if Russia did that in Canada--installed a government hostile to us--we saw something like that in Cuban Missile Crisis--that would not be acceptable to us. So let's not be single-issue--instead of fomenting a hostile Ukraine we
should be leading the way in establishing a neutral Ukraine that would allow Russia to not feel under attack. We've made great strides--Putin is not a hero--but as Noam Chomsky points out, the Doomsday clock has moved closer to midnight than it has been
since 1983. The hostile faceoff with Russia causes that and is entirely misplaced--led by war hawks in Obama administration--especially [Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs] Victoria Nuland, who cheered on an overthrow in Ukraine.
Click for Jill Stein on other issues.
Source: Phone interview on 2016 presidential race by OnTheIssues.org
Marco Rubio on Foreign Policy
: May 3, 2014
Tough sanctions against Russia for Ukraine aggression
Rubio touted a new Republican effort in the Senate to stiffen penalties for Russia if it continues its aggression: "President Obama talks tough, but his actions have not gone far enough to change Putin's calculation that the benefits of his aggression
outweigh the costs," Rubio said. "And that's why this week Senate Republicans introduced a bill that would increase sanctions. It would provide Ukraine with defensive military assistance. It would impose tough new sanctions on sectors of
Putin's economy and on President Putin and his cronies."The bill would also increase natural gas exports to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian energy, Rubio said, and it would urge the president to expedite the deployment of missile defense
installations in Eastern Europe.
Obama unveiled a new raft of sanctions against Russia, but the expanded penalties stopped short of sanctioning entire sectors of the Russian economy--a step that would constitute a significant escalation.
Click for Marco Rubio on other issues.
Source: CBS News 2014 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls
Mike Pence on Homeland Security
: Apr 27, 2014
Grow NATO stronger; Poland & Czech missile shield
Q: During a recent trade mission to Germany, recently you criticized the way President Obama has been handling Ukraine. You said, "With Putin's aggression in Ukraine, I believe we must take immediate steps to strengthen our mutual security by deploying
a robust missile defense in all of Europe." Does that mean a missile defense in the Czech Republic or Poland? How does missile defense help?PENCE: I think we need less talk and more deeds. And by deploying a robust missile shield throughout
Europe including in Poland and the Czech Republic that was off-lined in 2009, I think would send a very strong message to Putin and to Russia that NATO countries and the United States are going to respond by growing stronger economically and
strategically. And I believe that's going to have a lot more influence in the long haul than more sanctions and more talk. Let's allow Poland and the Czech Republic to have that missile shield that they were entitled to by joining NATO.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: Fox News Sunday 2014 interview by Chris Wallace
Marco Rubio on Foreign Policy
: Mar 7, 2014
Only America can stand up to world totalitarianism
Alarmed by the rise of noninterventionist voices in his party, Sen. Rubio is trying to become the leading voice for a muscular brand of foreign policy. The road to presidential success in IA and NH may not run through the Crimean Peninsula or the streets
of Caracas, but Rubio has used Russia's incursion into Ukraine and the violent clashes in Venezuela to remind Republicans of their orthodoxy--projecting strength abroad.Rubio sought to link the right's resolute belief in American exceptionalism with a
call for the US to play a more robust role in confronting bad actors on the world stage: "There is only one nation on earth capable of rallying and bringing together the free people on this planet to stand up to the spread of totalitarianism," Rubio told
CPAC attendees, offering a tour d'horizon of affairs in China, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Russia.
That posture stands in contrast with Sen. Rand Paul, who argues that the US should be wary of foreign intervention.
Click for Marco Rubio on other issues.
Source: N.Y. Times on 2014 CPAC convention
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