‘Won’t meet Putin if…’: Harris rules out truce talks with Russia if Ukraine is not represented

US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who is running for the November 5 presidential election, has ruled out meeting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, if elected America’s president, for truce talks if Ukraine is not represented in such a discussion.

In an interview broadcast Monday, Democratic White House hopeful Harris asserted that peace talks with Putin can happen only if Ukraine is directly involved in the process.

“Not bilaterally without Ukraine, no. Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine,” the US vice president told CBS’s “60 Minutes” program when asked if she would meet one-on-one with the Russian leader to negotiate an end to the war.

Harris’s stand marks a shift in the position of the US in negotiating peace with Russia, which launched an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. President Joe Biden’s administration has previously rejected any talks with Putin.

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Harris also reiterated her criticisms of Republican rival Donald Trump’s policies on Ukraine, describing them as a “surrender” to the invasion Moscow launched two and a half years ago.

Trump has previously been critical of both Biden and Harris over the US administration’s massive military and financial aid for Ukraine. The Republican hopeful has insisted that he could quickly reach a peace deal with Putin.

“Donald Trump, if he were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. He talks about, ‘Oh, he can end it on day one.’ You know what that is? It’s about surrender,” Harris said.

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Ukraine fears a deal as suggested by Trump would involve ceding to Russia the territory in eastern Ukraine that it has captured since the invasion.

Harris, meanwhile, said she would deal with Ukraine’s bid to join the Nato military alliance “if and when it arrives at that point”.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on since February 2022, with the International Court of Criminal Justice having issued an arrest warrant against Putin, limiting his international tours, particularly to the West. The Ukraine war has become an issue in the US presidential election that is reaching its last leg, with surveys showing a tight contest between Harris and Trump.

(With inputs from agencies)