Welcome to Pazet the world, I'm'm Ben Rhodes and this is another special episode in the lead up to November's election

where we're looking at what the stakes are for foreign policy and for the world as a whole and the Harrison Trump matchup.

Last episode we focused on the battle over global democracy and today we'll look at a

conflict which is at the center of that broader struggle Russia's war in Ukraine. It's now been two and a half years since Russia

invaded Ukraine and since Vladimir Putin underestimated the resolve of Ukrainians to fight for their

country. What he thought would be a short conquest has now become a grinding war of attrition

between Russia and Ukraine, the Kremlin, and the West,

with Europe and America pouring hundreds of billions of dollars

with the military support and other aid into Ukraine.

Now the costs are most staggering for those fighting the war.

Roughly 1 million Russians and Ukrainians have been killed or wounded.

Ukrainians are exhausted, battling not only for their lives and their sovereignty,

but also for the attention in support of the world, as conflict in the Middle East sucks up attention

and Western electorates are focused on rising costs at home.

Russia has drifted further into totalitarianism, as any dissent or criticism of the war is harshly punished.

And a propaganda machine works non-stop to convince the Russian people that their government is on the right. a That is a war that's dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president.

If I win, when I'm president-elect, and what I'll do is I'll speak to one, I'll speak to the

other, I'll get them together, that war would have never happened.

Ukraine stands as an independent and free country.

If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kiev right now.

And understand what that would mean,

because Putin's agenda is not just about Ukraine.

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