When Vice President Kamala Harris picked Tim Walz to be her running mate, Ukraine hailed her choice because of the Minnesota governor’s strong support for the country since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. That stands in sharp contrast with the views of Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who has consistently opposed U.S. aid for Ukraine.
Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova praised Walz's record on Ukraine. in an interview for the online Ukrainian newspaper European Pravda.
She said that among the American governors who actively support Ukraine, "Governor Walz is definitely one of the leaders of such support and a reliable friend of our country."
European Pravda wrote:
The ambassador added that Minnesota is one of the states where the governor's active support helps Ukraine to conduct its advocacy campaign.
"When I visited Minnesota in December as part of our Whistlestop Tour for Ukraine with the German Marshall Fund and Howard Buffett, the governor and I met with the Farm Bureau and actually joined him in convincing them of how important Ukraine's victory is to the US national interest," the ambassador said.
Let’s go back to February 2022. In a podcast interview with Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser who is now serving a four-month prison term for contempt of Congress, Vance said: “I think it’s ridiculous that we’re focused on this border in Ukraine. I gotta be honest with you. I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other as a country.”
This was just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine.
And what did Walz do? On Feb. 24, he posted this message on Twitter:
Minnesota stands with the people of Ukraine and condemns Russia for this illegal aggression. Leaders across the world must unite and respond to this attack on democracy.
A day later, Walz and Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine issued a bipartisan statement in which they declared they were committed “to working with leaders at the federal level and across the nation and world to stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
But Walz did more than just issue a statement. On March 4, he signed an executive order requiring that state agencies terminate existing contracts with Russian entities.
Walz said:
“Minnesota stands firmly with Ukraine and strongly condemns the Russian government’s actions. Today, I signed an Executive Order directing my cabinet agencies to stop doing business with Russian entities to help ensure that our state does not aid the Russian government’s aggression against Ukraine. I encourage other individuals, companies, and organizations to stand with their Ukrainian neighbors and end support to Russian entities.”
And on March 6, Walz spoke to hundreds of people who gathered for a rally to support Ukraine on the steps of the state Capitol organized by the Ukrainian American Community Center.
Walz said:
"To our Ukrainian Minnesota communities, you are woven into the fabric of this state. Without Ukrainian Minnesotans there is no Minnesota, and today, we are all Ukrainians."
Walz declared March 6 to be Ukrainian Solidarity Day in Minnesota.
On April 1, Walz signed a new bill passed by the state legislature which codified his executive order and withdrew Minnesota state investments from both Russian and Belarusian entities.
Luda Anastazievsky, chair of the Minnesota Ukrainian American Advocacy Committee, praised Walz’s support for Ukraine in an interview published Saturday by Ukrinform, the Ukrainian National News Agency.
Ukrinform quoted her as saying:
“It was a great honor for me to testify in support of this bill in the state legislature. I come from Mariupol, so I told them what was really happening. The bill was unanimously approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the state, and then our governor paid tribute to the Ukrainian community and held a solemn ceremony of signing the document that stopped state investments in businesses related to Russia and Belarus."
Walz then raised the Ukrainian flag over his residence as a sign of support for Ukraine. …
“And most importantly, as we have made sure from our meetings and conversations with him, he is a strong supporter of Ukraine."
On Feb. 24, 2023, the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, Walz spoke at another rally on the steps of the state Capitol.
And in April 2023, Walz joined other governors in a video conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It was a bipartisan event organized by the National Governors Association to reaffirm their “commitment to Ukraine’s freedom and sovereignty.”
“It was an honor to hear from President Zelensky firsthand and offer him our unwavering support,” Walz said in a statement following the meeting. “Minnesota is a proud home to many Ukrainian families, and we will continue to welcome and support Ukrainian refugees in our state.”
And finally on February 21, 2024, just days before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion, Walz visited the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington. He met Ambassador Markarova and they signed a memorandum of understanding establishing an agricultural partnership between Minnesota and the Chernihiv oblast in northern Ukraine.
As for Vance, he’s been unwavering in his opposition to U.S. support for Ukraine, perhaps even more strongly than Donald Trump who had advocated an isolationist America First foreign policy.
The New York Times wrote:
Mr. Vance has been one of Congress’s most vocal opponents of U.S. aid for Ukraine, admonishing the Biden administration for its continued monetary and material support and leading an unsuccessful campaign in the Senate to block a $60 billion package.
A conservative, Mr. Vance has argued that American support of Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders is needlessly costly and called a return to Ukraine’s preinvasion borders “fantastical.”
Mr. Vance contends that Ukraine should stop offensive maneuvers in its war with Russia and begin negotiating a settlement because the West will never be able to produce enough weapons to make victory feasible.
In December 2023, Vance downplayed the threat that Putin poses to NATO member countries in Eastern Europe and suggested that Ukraine should give up some of its land to Russia to end the war.
In a Feb. 6 statement, Vance said: “I’m maybe the biggest skeptic of Ukraine aid in the United States Senate. I care much more about the American southern border.”
And in an April 12 New York Times op-ed piece, Vance wrote that the “math” makes Ukraine’s war with Russia unwinnable:
“The most fundamental question: How much does Ukraine need and how much can we actually provide? Mr. Biden suggests that a $60 billion supplemental means the difference between victory and defeat in a major war between Russia and Ukraine. That is also wrong … . Fundamentally, we lack the capacity to manufacture the amount of weapons Ukraine needs us to supply to win the war.”
And he said that Zelenskyy’s goal of reclaiming territory occupied by Russia since 2014 is impossible and that Ukraine should commit to a defensive posture and negotiate with Russia.
"By committing to a defensive strategy, Ukraine can preserve its precious military manpower, stop the bleeding and provide time for negotiations to commence.”
On April 30, Vance voted against the bipartisan $95 billion foreign aid package that included $61 billion for Ukraine on April 30, which passed by a 79-18 vote.
But The Washington Post cast an even more alarming picture of Vance’s hostility to Ukraine when it disclosed private correspondence between the senator and Charles Johnson, whom the newspaper described as “a blogger and entrepreneur who has zealously promoted right-wing conspiracy theories.”
The Post wrote that Vance “crudely described his aversion to the Ukrainian government and refusal to consider its pleas for U.S. assistance.”
“Dude I won’t even take calls from Ukraine,” he told Johnson in October, about three weeks after House Republicans blocked additional aid to help Kyiv repel the Russian invasion. “Two very senior guys reached out to me. The head of their intel. The head of the Air Force. Bitching about F16s.”
The two Ukrainian officials Vance was referring to were Kyrylo Budanov, the Chief of Defense Intelligence, and Mykola Oleshchuk, the Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force.
And that’s why the Harris campaign needs to get Walz out there talking to Ukrainian-American and Polish-American voters in the three critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
And lest there be any doubt of Walz’s ability to reach out to these voters, just watch the following video.
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