Trump touts Russia’s military record to justify doing a deal with Putin over Ukraine: ‘That’s what they do, they fight.’

Russian leader Vladimir Putin (left) and former President Donald Trump (right).

Former President Donald Trump hyped Russia’s military record in a rally speech on Tuesday, where he argued again for ending US involvement in the war in Ukraine.

Speaking in Savannah, Georgia, Trump referenced the Soviet Union’s role in defeating the Nazis in World War II, as well as how Russia stood up to Napoleon Bonaparte in the 19th Century.

“That’s what they do, they fight. And it’s not pleasant,” he said.

Trump also bemoaned US expenditure on supporting Ukraine, while criticizing President Joe Biden’s stance: “Biden says ‘we will not leave until we win’ — what happens if they win?”

Trump said that the US would be “stuck” in the Ukraine war “unless I’m president,” adding: “I’ll get it done. I’ll get it negotiated, I’ll get out. We’ve gotta get out.”

Russia continues to put pressure on a weary Ukraine, and is set to have the second-largest army in the world, with active troops numbering 1.5 million, thanks to a recent decree from President Vladimir Putin.

But analysts have cast doubt on Russia’s ability to sustain the same pace of operations in Ukraine beyond 2025, and have long noted that the 2022 full-scale invasion exposed many weaknesses in Russia’s military institutions.

In his speech, Trump didn’t specify how or what exactly he would negotiate, but his running mate, JD Vance, recently sketched out a plan that would involve significant concessions to Putin.

Vance, who has said in the past that he doesn’t “really care” what happens to Ukraine, said the plan would involve freezing the conflict and creating a “demilitarized zone” along the current front line, as well as barring Ukraine from joining NATO.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the plan in an interview with the New Yorker, saying: “That approach would broadcast to the world the following implicit rule: I came, I conquered, now this is mine.”

On Tuesday, Trump also made several false claims about US military funding to Ukraine, saying, “We’ve given them close to $300 billion.”

As of early September, the US has given Ukraine just under $56 billion in direct military assistance, according to the State Department. Total assistance to Ukraine and US activities related to the war was $175 billion as of May, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Trump also said that Europe had only given Ukraine a “very small fraction” of that. As of September, Europe as a whole has made available around $126 billion in military and other assistance to Ukraine.

Trump also claimed that there was no war in Ukraine while he was in office, saying: “Russia was never going into Ukraine.”

He added: “For four years they didn’t. When I left, they just went in.”

The remarks ignore the fact that Russia’s annexation of Crimea and proxy war activity in eastern Ukraine have been going on since 2014, including while Trump was in office.