Vice President Kamala Harris’ claim during Tuesday’s debate has been determined as false by fact-checkers. According to the verdict, while Russia under Vladamir Putin did invade neighboring countries during the administrations of former presidents George Bush and Barack Obama, it did not invade any neighbors when Donald Trump was the commander-in-chief.
Harris stated that if Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now with his eyes on the rest of Europe. However, her claim is incorrect as Russia invaded Georgia during President Bush’s administration, took Crimea during the Obama years, and launched its invasion of Ukraine during the Biden-Harris presidency but not under Trump’s leadership.
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly maintained that the war in Ukraine would never have started if he were still in office. Hungarian President Viktor Orbán has also stated that Trump is the only American or European leader who can put an end to the ongoing conflict. In her statement, Vice President Harris went on to assert that Putin would not only be sitting in Kyiv but would also have his eyes on the rest of Europe, starting with Poland.
During an interview this year, Russian president Vladimir Putin told Tucker Carlson that he would only consider attacking Poland if Poland attacked Russia. Trump, for his part, emphasized the importance of considering Russia’s nuclear weapons capabilities and cautioned against escalating the conflict further.