Ukraine will find a way to combat Russia's forces even if former President Donald Trump wins a second term and jeopardizes vital U.S. support for its defense, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on July 17.
In carefully framed remarks to an audience of U.S. policymakers and journalists, Umerov highlighted the diplomatic and military challenges facing Ukraine as Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate J. D. Vance gain momentum in the U.S. presidential race.
Vance, an Ohio senator, has worked in Congress to block U.S. military and financial aid to Ukraine, while Trump has promised to bring the war to an immediate end if he wins in November.
"We believe in U.S. leadership, and we believe America wants its partners and allies to be strong as well," Umerov said, according to the Associated Press as he was speaking remotely to government officials at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. "At this stage, we will focus on the battlefield," he noted. "Whatever the outcome" of the U.S. elections, "we will find solutions."
Umerov reportedly refrained from saying whether Ukraine would continue fighting or agree to a cease-fire deal that ceded territory to Russia if the U.S. were to withdraw its support.
Although other members of the military alliance of European and North American countries also provide arms, money, and other aid to Ukraine, U.S. support has been the most crucial since Russia launched its full-scale war in early 2022.
For now, Umerov emphasized that Ukraine — which has expanded its mobilization efforts to enlist more troops beyond the four million currently registered — would continue fighting to regain territory already lost to the Russians.
Chris York
