Democratic candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will be "more aggressive" in supporting Ukraine than U.S. President Joe Biden if she wins the November election, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor said on Sept. 12.
"She will have the ability to be even stronger if she wants to. And my bet is she's going to be a little more aggressive than President Biden," Taylor said at a meeting at the American University Kyiv attended by the Kyiv Independent's journalist.
The meeting with Taylor occurred shortly after the first debate between Harris and Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, on Sept. 10.
During the debate, Trump refused to say that he wanted Ukraine to win the war and dodged a question as to whether a Ukrainian victory was in the United States' best interests. Harris, in response, accused Trump of giving up on Ukraine.
Taylor highlighted that Harris "clearly supports" Ukraine and will continue to do so "until it prevails."
The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine also said that Biden has done "a great job" of assembling and maintaining a coalition of partners but has been "slow to make some decisions."
"He was slow to make some decisions about HIMARS, Abrams, and F-16s, and now he is slow to make decisions about attacking deep into Russia," Taylor said, adding that despite the slow pace, his decisions were correct.
Harris has already shown in some issues that she is "more aggressive" than Biden, according to Taylor.
The former ambassador also noted that if Harris wins the presidential election, she will likely bring a new team to the White House.
"If she's elected, she will have a new secretary of state, probably a new national security advisor. She has the opportunity to bring in people who are even more supportive of Ukraine or not. My bet is they will be more supportive," Taylor said.
Harris became the presumptive nominee after Biden dropped out of the race in July and now has a chance of becoming the first female U.S. president in history.
Harris will take on Trump in the general election scheduled for Nov. 5, running alongside her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Owen Racer
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