Putin’s ghost over the Trump-Biden debate

It appears there was another presence on the stage with Democratic US President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump at last night’s CNN election debate, and that was Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian leader was cited almost a dozen times during the 100-minute debate between the two candidates on domestic and foreign policy. Both of them had different beliefs about the relationship between the White House and the Kremlin and about the Russian leader.

Trump – who has denied allegations that Moscow interfered in his favor in the 2016 election – claimed that Putin would withdraw from the conflict if he negotiated.

“If we had a real president who respected Putin, Russia would never have invaded Ukraine,” Trump said, according to a transcript of the CNN debate. 

Trump, who has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “the biggest dealer in history,” has again criticized the amount of US financial support to Kiev during the war. Two months ago, Washington approved a foreign aid bill that provided about 60 billion dollars for this war-torn country.

According to CNBC estimates, Putin was mentioned 12 times in this debate, most of which were in line with the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Translator: Azam Purkand