This story was originally published by Real Clear Wire
By Philip Wegmann
Real Clear Wire
At the end of the assembly line at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed off on one of the 155-millimeter cannons critical to keeping his country afloat in the brutal ground war that Russia began nearly three years ago.
The Ukrainian leader, dressed in his trademark olive green shirt, then handed a pen to two politicians who were eligible for signatures: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Democratic Senator Bob Casey. A prominent surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris, the two Democrats smiled and shook hands as a videographer captured the moment.
For Republicans, the tour looks like a campaign stop in a critical battleground state. And the next day when the New Yorker magazine published an interview with Zelensky, it seemed that the foreign leader gave his endorsement in the 2024 presidential election.
Former President Donald Trump does not know how to end the war, Zelensky said, and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, is “dangerous” and “very radical.”
Harris leads Trump in the RealClearPolitics Average by 2.2 percentage points nationally and by less than one point in Pennsylvania. The war for Ukraine, meanwhile, has become as trench warfare as World War I. Election Day is six weeks away.
While Zelensky insisted that meddling in the election would be “wrong”, he is very familiar with the US political system after being a central character, albeit reluctantly, in the first Trump impeachment. Ukraine is once again front and center in American presidential politics. He still gives interviews.
“His message seems to be that Ukraine has to sacrifice,” Zelensky said of the Republican vice presidential nominee in an interview before he flew to the U.S. “But I believe that we have protected America from total war.”
The foreign leader said of the former president, who vowed to end war, “My feeling is that Trump doesn’t know how to end war even though he might think he knows how,” he said. “With this war, often, the deeper you look, the less you understand.”
Nothing about the trip to Pennsylvania or advance interview sitting well with everyone. Sen. Eric Schmitt said Republicans recognize a campaign stop when they see one. “It’s outrageous that Democrats would bring in foreign leaders to try to influence our elections,” the Missouri Republican, who sits on the Amed Services Committee, told RealClearPolitics. He blasted Zelensky for “political statements” and took issue with his trip to the United States.
Zelensky flew in the US Air Force C17 to Pennsylvania, where Gov. Shapiro made sure to welcome him on the tarmac. “The idea that you brought Zelensky to a warring country in the heat of the election cycle,” Schmitt said, “is not American.”
The son of the Republican presidential candidate felt it, too. “A foreign leader who has received billions of dollars from American taxpayers, came to our country and had the nerve to attack the GOP ticket for President? And he did this after pro-Ukraine zealots tried to kill my father,” said Donald Trump Jr. on social media. “Of course!”
While the visit coincides with the election, the Ukrainian president also has state business, which is to address the UN General Assembly this week. He is also scheduled to meet separately with President Biden and Vice President Harris before also speaking with Trump. As Congress debates another $375 million Ukraine aid package, which Zelensky says will “determine the future of this war,” he plans to provide Biden, Harris, and Trump with a “plan for victory.”
As the war drags on and Republicans argue that America’s national interests would be better served by securing the border or preparing for conflict with China, the Biden administration has repeatedly refused to define the victory.
“The reason it’s difficult to determine who won, because, clearly, our view continues that in the end it will go through the diplomatic process and the diplomatic conversation,” Jen Psaki, then the White House press secretary, told RCP in April. 2022 when the war is still new. “It’s up to the Ukrainian people to decide what the outcome will be, not for us to decide their name.”
The White House delivered a report to Congress earlier this month outlining its strategy for the war, a statuary requirement included in the final aid package. It remains classified, and its contents are known only to the legislature. The US has sent more than $100 billion to allies in military and humanitarian aid, providing more material support than the European Union.
Among conservatives, Ukraine has become a political minefield. House Speaker Mike Johnson muscled through military aid to the beleaguered ally earlier this year but had to seek support from Democrats after many Republicans balked.
Vance, meanwhile, represents the wife of the New Right defined by skepticism of foreign intervention. He has limited the offramp to the conflict: territorial concessions, demilitarized zones, and an agreement that Ukraine will not join NATO. Critics say the senator copied Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s notes. Supporters say Vance is just being realistic. For his part, the GOP candidate told RCP earlier this summer that the U.S. should address its own challenges in the states before seeking to help allies prosecute a war “6,000 miles away from tragedy.”
Zelensky ignored the analysis. He suggested in an interview with the New Yorker that the peace settlement was the equivalent of Adolf Hitler. “Let Mr. Vance read about the history of World War II, when a country was forced to give part of its territory to a certain person,” Zelensky said. “What did that person do? Are they satisfied or do they deal a devastating blow to the European continent – to many countries, in general, and to the Jewish people in particular?
The far-flung battle taking place today took center stage in the first debate between Trump and Harris, both of whom were forced to defend their positions on Ukraine.
“Negotiate a deal,” Trump said when asked how he would end the war but without saying he wanted to see Ukraine win over Russia. “Because we have to stop all these human lives from being destroyed.”
Trump insisted that Russia would not attack if he remained president, a counter-factual that Harris dismissed as absurd. “Putin will sit in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe,” he replied before repeating a prepared line that attracted many political observers. “Why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans here in Pennsylvania how quickly you gave up?”
The Associated Press later reported the strategy behind the can line: There are approximately 784,000 Polish Americans in Michigan, 758,000 in Pennsylvania, and 481,000 in Wisconsin. In a race that comes down to slim margins, an overture can pay dividends. Ukrainian Americans may be important in the Keystone State.
“Pennsylvania is home to the second largest Ukrainian-American population of any state in the country,” Governor Shapiro said in a video recalling his visit with Zelensky, “and we share a special kinship between our people.”
Critics of US support for Ukraine also note the political dimension, but in a less sanguine way. “It’s not in America’s interest for this war to continue, and I’m angry that no more policymakers are recognizing that now about the political nature of this visit,” said Dan Caldwell, public policy adviser at Defense Priorities. “I don’t blame Zelensky for trying to manipulate American politics,” he said. “I blame policymakers in both parties for allowing this to happen.”
Zelensky has become a celebrity in this country for his heroism in the face of Russian aggression. He famously rejected US offers to evacuate Kyiv at the start of the war, saying, “I need ammunition, not rides.” The Biden administration then deployed everything from F-16 fighter jets to M1 Abrams tanks. Soon, American taxpayers will also be sending signed artillery shells to Pennsylvania in the middle of election season.
This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and is available via RealClearWire.
