WASHINGTON — The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) think tank asked Democratic Party presidential candidates about their position on Ukraine.
While 24 hopefuls are vying to gain the party’s nomination to take on U.S. President Donald J. Trump in 2020, only nine responded to the council’s questionnaire.
The council, headquartered in New York City and associated with Foreign Affairs magazine, asked candidates to state their positions on 12 foreign policy questions, including this one on Ukraine: “What, if any, steps would you take to counter Russian aggression against Ukraine?”
Here are summaries of the responses from nine candidates:
Bernie Sanders
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is often accused of being soft on Moscow going back to Soviet times, when he and his wife took their honeymoon in the former U.S.S.R.
He said that if he became president “my administration will make clear to Russia that additional aggression will force the United States to increase pressure, including expanding beyond current sanctions. For now, our main priority should be to work closely with our European allies to help the new Ukrainian government make good on its promises to reform the economy, improve standards of living, and substantially reduce corruption.”
Pete Buttigieg
Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said: “Russian aggression against Ukraine is an attack on the agreed principles and rules of European and global order that protect global citizens beyond Ukraine, including Americans. We must keep tough, targeted, and effective economic and financial sanctions on Russia as long as it continues to assault Ukrainian territory and citizens, and continues to illegally occupy Ukrainian territory in the Donbas and Crimea.”
He said: “Although Ukraine is not a formal treaty ally, the U.S. should be willing to help Ukraine develop a modern and capable defense force to defend its citizens, including advice, education, training, and willingness to consider commercial sales of weapons appropriate to the situation. We should not shy from responsible defense assistance to a democracy in the heart of Europe that is under assault because its citizens have chosen a democratic European path.”
Cory Booker
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said: “When it comes to Russian aggression, let’s be clear: the Russians are not just attacking Ukraine, or the U.S., they are trying to undermine democracy.”
As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said he signed a letter affirming Ukraine’s sovereignty, and voted to disapprove of Trump’s decision to end sanctions on companies connected to Russian oligarchs. He criticized Trump for looking “the other way in the face of Russian aggression, whether that aggression is against Ukraine, which I visited and witnessed first-hand, or an attack on the integrity of our elections.”
Kirsten Gillibrand
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called Russian aggression toward Ukraine dangerous and that it emboldens Russian aggression elsewhere.
She said: “Russia’s cyber hacks of Ukrainian infrastructure gave it a testbed, and its lessons could be used to target the U.S. We must be very clear with President Vladimir Putin that Russia’s illegal attempts at annexation are not acceptable. That is why rather than warmly greet Putin in confidential conversations, or weigh his assertions above U.S. intelligence assessments [as Trump has done], I would continue a policy of sanctions aimed at the group of Russian leaders who have undermined Ukraine’s democracy, security and territorial integrity.”
Joe Sestak
Joe Sestak, a former U.S. House of Representatives member from Pennsylvania, said Russia’s territorial aggression is a threat to global peace and “that we will not turn our backs on democratic countries under threat from autocrats like Vladimir Putin.”
He said what happens to Ukraine will determine Moscow’s actions elsewhere. “If [Ukraine] fails in one of several ways — from internal dissension that shatters its frail democracy to incursions by ‘insurgents’ supported by clandestine Russian support — Russia will feel empowered to assess where it may find further success in neighboring nations once part of its orbit.”
John Delaney
John Delaney, a former U.S. House of Representatives member from Maryland, said America should take a leading role in demanding Russia’s return to its established borders and that such aggression will not be tolerated.
He said: “I would engage with elected Ukrainian leaders to support their efforts to push Russia back, including military aide, training and support as appropriate.” He said Trump is doing too little to challenge Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Seth Moulton
U.S. Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts said the U.S. needs to hold Russia accountable for its aggression against Ukraine by increasing sanctions that specifically target Putin and his close allies “and by continuing to provide lethal aid to Ukraine, a step the Obama administration should have taken.”
Tim Ryan
Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio said Russia must be contained. He said America should “use every diplomatic tool available to us in order to prevent Russian aggression in the Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. The most successful counter to Russian hybrid war in Ukraine would be to continue to work with our Ukrainian partners to build a strong democracy and steadfast adherence to the rule of law and anti-corruption.”
Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson is an author and one of the few candidates with no experience of political office. She said that Russia launched a “cyber Pearl Harbor attack” to meddle in the American 2016 presidential elections using methods it had first applied in Ukraine.
Choosing a nominee
The Democratic nominee will be chosen in caucuses and primary elections between February and June ahead of the July 13-16 convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Only the top 20 candidates have taken part in two rounds of debates split over two nights, with 10 participants each, but the debate field will be thinned by half or more for the third round of debates on Sept. 12-13. Candidates must have at least 2 percent from voters in four major polls and receive donations from at least 130,000 unique donors to qualify.
All polls so far show former Vice President Joe Biden, who served under President Barack Obama, far in the lead with some 33 percent. Until the July 31 second TV debate, Sanders was Biden’s nearest rival, but some polls show Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to have taken his place with around 20 percent.
Others doing well are Senator Kamala Harris of California with 11 percent, Buttigieg with 6 percent, Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas at 4 percent and Booker with 3 percent.
