WASHINGTON >> With American support for Ukraine at a partisan crossroads, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, on Thursday slammed suggestions that Kyiv should cede territory for the sake of peace with Moscow as “dangerous and unacceptable.”

The Democratic presidential nominee spoke alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as she unleashed the veiled criticism of hew opponent Republican candidate Donald Trump’s push for Ukraine to quickly cut a deal to end the war.

“They are not proposals for peace,” Harris said. “Instead they are proposals for surrender.”

Her comments were a reminder of the high stakes for the war effort in this year’s election. Trump, for his part, has criticized U.S. assistance for Ukraine, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and faulted Zelenskyy for the ongoing bloodshed. Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022 in an unprovoked attack, unleashing all-out war.

Trump meeting planned

Trump said he will meet with Zelenskyy in New York on Friday after days of questions over whether the two leaders will sit down together. He rejected Harris’ criticisms and insisted that he only wants to stop the “horror show that’s gone on.”

Asked if Ukraine should give up territory, Trump said “we’ll see what happens” and “we need peace.”

Before announcing the meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump posted on social media a purported message from the Ukrainian leader asking to see him. The message, which was not confirmed by Ukrainian officials, said “we have to strive to understand each other.”

The decision to publicly disclose what appeared to be private communications, however benign their contents, was a reminder of the tension that’s been brewing between Trump and Zelenskyy.

Harris’ view

It was a far different impression than Harris delivered Thursday as she embraced Ukraine’s defense and outlined a broader foreign policy vision rooted in “international order, rules and norms.” Harris rejected calls for the U.S. to walk away from its global role and warned that potential aggressors could be emboldened if Putin emerges victorious.

“The United States supports Ukraine not out of charity, but because it’s in our strategic interest,” Harris said.

Zelenskyy was in Washington to present the White House and Congress with his plans for reaching an endgame in the war by improving Ukraine’s chances on the battlefield and its eventual leverage at the negotiating table. He’s pushing to lift restrictions on using long-range Western weapons to strike targets deeper in Russian territory.

More aid announced

No movement on this issue was evident during Zelenskyy’s visit. However, President Joe Biden announced billions of dollars more in missiles, drones, ammunition and other supplies. The weapons include an additional Patriot missile defense battery and a new shipment of glide bombs that can be deployed from Western fighter jets, increasing their strike range.

Biden pledged to ensure that all approved funding is disbursed before he leaves office, and said he plans to convene a meeting with other world leaders focused on Ukraine’s defense during a visit to Germany next month.

“We stand with Ukraine, now and in the future,” Biden said alongside Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. “Russia will not prevail. Ukraine will prevail.”

Ukrainian officials are anxious to maintain good relations with whomever becomes the next president of the United States, which is its biggest and most important provider of arms, money and other support. But the effort risks slipping into the political blender of the presidential campaign, polarizing the discussion around a war that used to be a bipartisan cause célèbre in Washington.

About two thirds of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said the U.S. has a responsibility to help Ukraine, compared with one third of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted in July.

In Congress

On Thursday, Zelenskyy found some bipartisan support as he visited Capitol Hill, where he was greeted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Zelenskyy asked to use long-range weapons, such as British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles or U.S.-made ATACMS, for “maximum benefit to bring Putin to the table” and increase Ukraine’s negotiating position.

“If we don’t make that fundamental choice this week, I think the outcome for Ukraine is dire,” Graham said.