Ukrainian politician Oleksiy Goncharenko said Saturday that former President Donald Trump’s comments during Thursday’s presidential debate about a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine were “alarming.”
“There’s no doubt that Trump is saying something, some of his statements are very worrying to us,” a Ukrainian lawmaker told CNN in an interview.
“But I think there’s a mismatch between what he says and what he actually does,” he added.
He added that it was unclear what Trump meant when he said he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine, as Trump has repeatedly argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he were president.
“If Trump is going to kick Putin out of Ukraine if he becomes president, I just applaud him. I would say that if Trump wins the election and abandons Ukraine and Putin can take it, that would be the worst thing that could happen not only for Ukraine but for the security of the United States, because it would mean the United States losing the war, losing a lot of money on weapons sent, and losing its position as a world leader,” he said.
Goncharenko said it was important for the American people to understand that aiding Ukraine was in the national strategic interest of the United States, because regardless of the election outcome, the funds and weapons supplied to the front lines would be used “against the Russian Federation, which declares the United States to be its greatest enemy and is one of the United States’ biggest rivals.”
