During the televised debate that took place early on October 5 Kyiv time, US vice-presidential candidates Senator Tim Kaine (Democratic Party) and Mike Pence (Republican Party) both stated that a stronger US response was needed to Russia’s actions that threaten international security.
Kaine presented Hillary Clinton as a prudent and firm leader who could both cooperate with Russia, including by negotiating the reduction of nuclear arsenals or engaging in the “reset” policy, and be tough with that country when circumstances warrant it.
On the other hand, he mentioned the close ties between members of Donald Trump’s inner circle and Russia as well as the New York billionaire’s own expansive business interests in Russia. Kaine believes that “Americans need to worry about whether Donald Trump will be watching out for America’s bottom line or his own bottom line.”
When asked why the reset policy has not worked, Kaine replied succinctly: “Vladimir Putin is a dictator. He is not a leader. Anybody who thinks otherwise does not know Russian history.”
Meanwhile, Republican Pence said that many of Trump’s statements about Putin had been misunderstood. He stressed that it was after the reset policy, co-authored by Clinton, that Putin dared to annex Crimea, invade Ukraine and intervene in the Syrian conflict on the side of Bashar al-Assad. By the way, Trump himself spoke quite differently about the annexation of Crimea and even said that there were no Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.
Pence also said that to protect the civilian population in Syria, the US had to take a decisive stand, up to attacking Syrian government forces. When asked how Trump would get the Kremlin to respect him, Pence responded with one word: “Strength.”
