Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine under Russian bombardment, Thursday
Bush, Obama back Biden over Trump on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Two former United States Presidents; George W Bush and Barack Obama, have backed the incumbent, Joe Biden as they roundly condemned the action of Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin in the invasion of Ukraine.
The positions of Bush and Obama, however, differ from taken of the immediate past President, Donald Trump who opted to hail Putin’s move, calling the Russian leader, a’ a genius.’
Both Bush and Obama, late Thursday, issued harsh condemnations of President Putin barely hours after Russia began its attack on multiple targets within Ukrainian territory, including its capital city.
In his statement, which followed a strong speech on the issue by his former vice president Joe Biden, Obama accused Russia of launching “a brazen attack on the people of Ukraine, in violation of international law and basic principles of human decency”.
“People of conscience around the world need to loudly and clearly condemn Russia’s actions and offer support for the Ukrainian people.
“And every American, regardless of party, should support President Biden’s efforts, in coordination with our closest allies, to impose hard-hitting sanctions on Russia – sanctions that impose a real price on Russia’s autocratic elites.”
On his part, Bush called the attack ‘the gravest security crisis on the European continent since World War II,’ adding that ‘people must stand in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as they seek freedom and the right to choose their own future.’
“I join the international community in condemning Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” said Bush, adding: “We cannot tolerate the authoritarian bullying and danger that Putin poses.”
The former leaders’ statements, particularly their words about Putin, were markedly different than the remarks Mr Trump made earlier this week in a series of statements and an interview with two conservative hosts.
Trump has largely stuck to the effusive praise of Putin that became a staple of his foreign policy while president, and praised the Russian leader’s previous order of so-called “peacekeeping” troops into Crimea as a supposedly “genius” move to which the US allegedly had no response.
However, Trump has remained silent in the hours since the full invasion began.
Similarly, statements issued by congressional Republican leaders like Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, like President Biden, have also roundly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and called for strict sanctions against Moscow.
