Harris says she would not meet Putin for peace talks if Ukraine wasn’t represented – Technologist

Democratic White House hopeful Kamala Harris said in an interview broadcast Monday, October 7 that if elected president she would not meet with Vladimir Putin for peace talks if Ukraine was not also represented.

“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.

President Joe Biden’s administration has previously rejected any talks with Putin.

Harris also reiterated her criticisms of Republican rival Donald Trump’s policies on Ukraine, describing them as a “surrender” to the invasion Moscow launched in February 2022.

Trump has previously been critical of Washington’s massive military and financial aid for Ukraine and 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,” she said.

Kyiv fears such a deal 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.”

‘I have a Glock’

Kamala Harris also revealed on Monday that she owns a Glock semi-automatic pistol and said that “of course” she’d fired it on a shooting range.

Speculation has swirled about the US vice president’s weapon of choice ever since she told television star Oprah Winfrey recently that she was a gun owner and that she would shoot anyone who broke into her house.

“I have a Glock, and I’ve had it for quite some time,” Harris said elsewhere in the interview when asked what kind of firearm she packed.

“My background is in law enforcement. And – so there you go,” added the former prosecutor and California attorney general.

Interviewer Bill Whitaker then asked if Harris had ever fired the Glock. Harris replied with a laugh: “Of course I have. At a shooting range. Yes, of course I have.”