In mid-February 2022, US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Europe with a critically important mission, as Russia was pulling troops to the borders of Ukraine. Despite the efforts of the United States to prepare for possible aggression, its meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was tense, and its role in diplomacy and support of Ukraine has become a subject of attention. Simon Shuster considers these events in the article by analyzing their impact on US international relations and domestic policy.
In mid-February 2022, Vice President of Kamala Harris flew to Europe to fulfill a critically important mission on the world stage. Almost 200,000 Russian troops stood on the borders of Ukraine, and their invasion would be one of the biggest challenges in recent decades for international order, headed by the United States.
Baiden administration sent Harris to help Europeans cope with this challenge. Like every aspect of Harris's track record, its interference in international affairs again became the subject of close attention after it became a probable presidential candidate from the Democratic Party.
During her stay in Baiden, no threat to the US interests in the world was more urgent than Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Harris from time to time played a prominent role in the US response to him.
Her trip to Germany in 2022, less than a week before the invasion, brought Harris to the annual meeting of European leaders in Munich. One of her tasks was to meet with President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and convey to him how the US intends to respond to the invasion - and how they would not respond. According to the White House representative, she also had to present the latest assessments of American intelligence and explain "the preparation necessary to succeed in the battlefield."
The message she spoke was not quite desirable, and the impression she made on the Ukrainians was ambiguous.
"Kamala Harris said that the attack was inevitable," recalls Alexei Reznikov, who was present at the meeting as the Minister of Defense of Ukraine at that time.
To which President Zelensky replied: "I understand: I understand. Our intelligence also sees this information."
But they could not agree with Harris. Zelensky urged the United States to impose preventive sanctions against Russia, claiming that it would make Vladimir Putin review his decision to invade. If the attack is really inevitable, Zelensky argued, the United States must give Ukraine weapons, including anti -aircraft systems, fighters and heavy artillery necessary to prevent the country from seizing Russian troops.
Harris rejected both proposals, according to Ukrainian officials present in the hall. She said that the US could not impose preventive sanctions against Russia, as punishment can only occur after committing a crime. Instead of promising to send modern weapons, Rennikov says, Americans pressed on Zelensky to publicly declare that the invasion is inevitable.
“Zelensky clearly asked Kamal Harris:“ Do you want me to admit it, but what will give you? If I admit it here in this conversation you will impose sanctions? ”And he did not get the answer.”
The US position, determined by President Biden after consultation with his national security assistants, was that the threat of sanctions was a greater deterrent to Russia than their introduction, and that the provision of the latest weapons to Kiev would probably strengthen Putin's belief in Ukraine.
"Vice-President Harris was a decisive supporter of long-term support for Ukraine by the United States and repeatedly expressed an adamant commitment to the support of the people of Ukraine, which is protected from the cruel aggression of Russia," the White House representative said.
Harris's other major role at the conference was to unite European leaders for a united answer in the event of an invasion, as well as to make a position in his speech.
"She met with European leaders to coordinate answers in anticipation of the Russian invasion," says the White House representative in Time interviews, and in her speech at the conference, "She provided a plan of action of Russia and outlined the steps that the United States and Europe will take together."
However, the message she passed to Zelensky in Munich increased his disappointment with the Allies on the eve of the Russian invasion and set a tone in relations with Harris, which were never particularly warm. While the President Biden and other high -ranking administrations visited Kiev to demonstrate the determination and solidarity with the Ukrainians, Harris has not traveled to Ukraine since the start of a full -scale invasion.
During meetings with Ukrainian officials in recent years, she really showed compassion for their fate, as one of them said, "but I would call it a formal compassion, according to the Protocol." Answering the question of this, the White House representative noted that Vice President Harris traveled a lot, trying to unite European allies and support Ukrainians in their war against Russia. Shortly after the invasion, she visited Poland and Romania to meet European leaders and US military personnel on the Eastern Flang, "to strengthen our restraint and defense forces," the official said.
In relations with the Zelensky administration, President Biden, as a rule, took the initiative, partly because of his history of direct interaction with Ukraine. After Russia first attacked Ukraine and seized part of its territory in 2014, Biden headed the US Obama's reaction, visiting Kiev in 2015 to speak with a historical speech before the Ukrainian Parliament. Since the beginning of the full -scale war in 2022, the key American officials who participated in the response of the United States were Jake Sullivan, Baiden Advisor on National Security, William Burns, CIA Director, Anthony Blinken, State Secretary, and Lloyd Austin. Vice-President Harris, as a rule, played an auxiliary role by attending sums and other important meetings related to war when Biden could not come.
At the Munich Security Conference in 2023, Harris focused on war crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.
"As a former prosecutor, the Vice President was an important reliable envoy and united the world to bring Russia to justice for its atrocities in Ukraine," says the White House representative.
At the beginning of this summer, Harris was also present at a peaceful summit organized by Ukraine in Switzerland. Zelensky hoped to gather as many world leaders as possible in this event in support of his plan to end the war. Biden refused to arrive, citing the fundraising he had to lead that week in Hollywood, and Zelensky responded to this refusal by the President of the United States by public criticism: Putin, he said, would "applaud" Biden's decision not to come. When Harris arrived instead, her meeting with Zelensky was marked with the same formality as their previous meetings. Both leaders sat opposite each other at the table at the table when the journalists held their rooms for negotiations at the Alpine Resort. Zelensky read a pre -prepared speech, thanking the US President and the US Congress for support.
"Putin is trying to expand the war and make it bloody," he said.
"But together with America and all our partners, we protect our people's lives." In response, Harris noted that it would be her sixth meeting with the President of Ukraine since the start of a full -scale war.
"Not the last," Zelensky replied with a smile.
"And I hope in the best of times," Harris said.
