WASHINGTON — In an impassioned speech in Kyiv today, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin took direct aim at the idea that Ukraine is to blame for Russia’s invasion, saying US “fully understand[s] the moral chasm between aggressor and defender.”
Taking a line from President John F. Kennedy’s famous 1963 address in Berlin, Austin, who normally avoids political statements, said that “there are some who don’t understand — or say they don’t understand — what is at stake between the free world and an aggressive tyrant like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”
“There are some who say that both sides are to blame for Putin’s war of aggression … There are some who blur the lines between aggressor and victim,” Austin said according to prepared remarks, adding in each instance that those people should “come to Kyiv.”
Austin did not identify the people he was talking about, except to mention “Kremlin apologists,” but the speech comes as a critical moment ahead of the US election and just days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was responsible for Russia’s invasion.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to help [Zelenskyy], because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start. The war’s a loser,” Trump said last week on a podcast.
Speaking next to Zelenskyy late last month, Trump said he and the Ukrainian leader have a “very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin.” Just days later, after Zelenskyy criticized Trump in a New Yorker article, Trump suggested the US should reconsider its commitment.
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“Those buildings are down. Those cities are gone. They’re gone. And we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal,” Trump said at a campaign rally. (Earlier in September, during a presidential debate Trump declined to say if he thought Ukraine should win the war.)
Some lawmakers in the US Congress, especially among Republicans in the House of Representatives, have spoken out against US aid for Ukraine, arguing that the money is better spent inside American borders. Austin spoke the same day the Defense Department unveiled its latest aid package, including $400 million-worth of equipment ranging from rocket ammunition to Javelin anti-armor weapons to satellite communications equipment.
In his speech today, Austin attempted to link Ukraine’s security with America’s.
“Ukraine matters to US security for four blunt reasons: Putin’s war threatens European security, Putin’s war challenges our NATO allies, Putin’s war attacks our shared values, and Putin’s war is a frontal assault on the rules-based international order that keeps us all safe.”
And though Austin did not mention Trump, he did name-check Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, saying she and President Joe Biden “will have a proud place in history for rallying the world to defend Ukraine.” Austin also praised Zelenskyy, saying that from his position “on down, your leaders chose to fight back.”
“The spirit of Ukraine has inspired the world, and it has reminded us all to never take our freedom for granted,” Austin said. “So we refuse to blame Ukraine for the Kremlin’s aggression. We refuse to offer excuses for Putin’s atrocities. And we refuse to pretend that appeasement will stop an invasion.”