ASPEN, Colorado (AP) 鈥 Ukraine will find a way to deal with whatever comes if former President Donald Trump wins a second term, throwing into doubt vital U.S. support for its defense against Russia's invading forces, Ukraine鈥檚 defense minister said Wednesday.
In carefully framed comments to an audience of U.S. policymakers and journalists, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reflected the diplomatic and military difficulty facing Ukraine as Trump and running mate in the U.S. presidential race.
to block U.S. military and financial aid to Ukraine as it fights Russian forces and cross-border attacks, while Trump has said he will if he wins in November.
Trump, a Republican, has not said how he would do that. Analysts say that could include withdrawal of U.S. aid to Ukraine unless it agrees to a , including surrendering Ukrainian territory to Russia.
鈥淲e believe in U.S. leadership, and we believe America wants its partners and allies to be strong as well,鈥 Umerov said, speaking remotely to an audience of government officials and others at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
鈥淎t this stage, we will focus on the battlefield,鈥 Umerov said.
鈥淲hatever the outcome鈥 of the U.S. elections, 鈥渨e will find solutions," he said.
Umerov, much like at the last week, stopped short of saying whether Ukraine would attempt to keep fighting or would agree to a cease-fire deal that ceded territory to Russia if the U.S. were to withdraw its support.
While other members of the military alliance of European and North American countries also , U.S. support has been the most invaluable since Russia launched its war in early 2022.
For now, Umerov insisted that Ukraine 鈥 which has to bring in more troops than the 4 million Umerov said were now registered 鈥 would keep fighting to regain territory already lost to the Russians.
It was 鈥渨ithin our goals鈥 to take back the , seized by Russians early in their offensive, he said.
The defense minister also pushed back against President Joe Biden on one point, although not by name. While Biden has been the most important single backer of Ukraine鈥檚 defense, he has resisted growing pressure to roll back tough restrictions placed on Ukraine鈥檚 use of U.S. weapons against military targets in Russia. Biden suggested at the NATO summit that Ukraine might use the weapons to hit Moscow.
Umerov said Ukraine couldn鈥檛 stop Russian unless it could hit the airbases and other military sites in Russia from which the strikes come.
鈥淲e want to say it loudly: We are focusing on military targets, so that they are not able to hit the civilians鈥 in Ukraine, he said.
