The day before, the first debate between presidential candidate Donald Trump and the current head of the United States, Joseph Biden, took place in the American state of Georgia. Both expressed their opinions on issues important to Americans: jobs, taxes, food prices, abortion and foreign policy.
Experts, some American politicians and the media criticized the Trump-Biden debate. They say about Trump that he lied a lot during the debates, and there were complaints against Biden because he looked too tired, often did not finish his remarks, or jumped from one thesis to another.
Biden is a supporter of Ukraine — American military assistance is perhaps the most important thing for us. But Trump’s position during his election campaign was contrarian — he threatened to cut off aid to Kyiv. That is why the attention of Ukrainians was focused on this political sparring, because Donald Trump’s victory in the elections will directly affect the provision of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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The war would not have started if Trump had been president?
Donald Trump said during the debate that it was under Biden’s presidency that a full-scale war began in Ukraine.
— If we had a real president, a president whom Putin respected, he would never have invaded Ukraine… Russia took a lot of land under Obama, under Biden. And with me — No. “Putin knew he couldn’t play with me,” Trump said.
According to expert Alexander Musienko, such statements by Trump should be regarded only as election rhetoric that does not have any weighty arguments. < /p>
Firstly, why does anyone think that the presidential factor would play any key role? After all, Putin has been hatching these plans for quite a long time. Secondly, what would Trump do to prevent this war from starting? He constantly says that this would not have happened, but almost never says what specific steps he would take to ensure that there really was no war.
Thirdly, there is nothing to reproach President Biden for, since he has done a lot for Ukraine. Yes, they could not prevent the war, but in order for Ukraine to continue the fight, the United States is doing a lot. And the role of Biden's leadership here is also noticeable.
— And the most important thing is to realize that the reasons for Russian aggression and the reasons for Putin’s hatred of Ukraine are not rooted in who the President of the United States is, they are rooted historically. I am convinced that Putin nurtured the idea of war against Ukraine, he lived with this idea. Therefore, he simply waited for a certain moment, accumulated troops and launched an invasion,” noted Alexander Musienko.
According to political scientist Alexey Yakubin, with such statements at the debate, Trump is trying to say that Biden has big problems on the foreign policy track, and that it seems Trump would be more effective.
We must not forget that now there is an election campaign in the United States and very often what politicians say is then sifted through the sieve of realism, Yakubin notes. It is noticeable that Trump is modifying his position. At first he said that he would not give Ukraine weapons and money, that we already receive a lot. But subsequently he agreed that the US Congress would adopt a resolution to allocate $60 billion in aid to Ukraine.
— This was due to the fact that the Republicans noticed a lack of understanding in their audience about this position, why such a position of the Republican Party if the United States says that it is the leader of the world, — notes Alexey Yakubin.
Trump says Ukraine won't win the war
During the debate, Trump said that Ukraine would not win the war — We're running out of people, we're running out of soldiers, we're losing cities:
— Ukraine will not win this war. They're running out of people, they're running out of soldiers. They have lost so many people. They lost these majestic cities with thousand-year-old golden domes — and all because of him (Biden, — Ed.) and his stupid decisions. Russia would never have attacked if I had been president.
According to expert Alexander Musienko, with such statements Trump wants to motivate peace negotiations and the conclusion of a truce. Earlier, Donald Trump's advisers published a plan to end the war in Ukraine, which generally provides for the status quo: that is, a truce along the front line.
The only plus in this regard — this is a serious increase in military assistance to Ukraine in the event that Putin does not want peace or violates the agreements. And in order to promote this plan, Donald Trump says things like this.
— Here we can compare it with the rhetoric of Biden, who says that Ukraine has already won. Despite the fact that part of the Ukrainian territory is occupied; Kyiv stands, Ukraine continues to fight, and will definitely be a sovereign state. And the United States must help with this, otherwise after Ukraine there will be Poland,” says Alexander Musienko.
“Putin's Peace” Plan Is Unacceptable
During the debates, Trump and Biden agreed that Kremlin dictator Putin's “peace” plan to end the war in Ukraine is unacceptable. Alexey Yakubin notes that Trump — is a man who knows how to negotiate.
He understands that Putin's ultimatum statements — are the maximum that the head of the Kremlin wants, but these are preliminary statements before future negotiations. And when the negotiations actually begin, these “conditions” will be heavily modified.
Alexey Yakubin believes that these statements by Trump during the televised debates are just beginning to outline his real position on Ukraine. And everything that was before is more emotion.
Can Biden be replaced??
After the debates in the US, Western media wrote that the Democrats were very disappointed with Biden's performance, that he was too weak, tired, unconvincing. And that is why the Democrats may start looking for a replacement for him.
According to the political scientist, this can only happen if Biden himself wants to withdraw his candidacy. It is worth recalling that he went through and won the primaries, and therefore the leadership of the Democratic Party cannot simply ignore the votes of their voters.
Technically, this can be done, but, again, on the condition that Joe Biden himself agrees to leave.
The political scientist noted that the 2024 US debates began early, since they usually take place in August. Perhaps the Democrats want to understand what chances Joe Biden has of going through this election campaign to the end.
