Trump would take us back into the cycle of Russian appeasement

This is an adapted excerpt from the Sept. 27 episode of “Morning Joe.”

If there’s one lesson to be learned from the United States’ relationship with Russia over the last almost two decades, it’s that appeasement does not work.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Georgia in 2008, a Republican president did nothing. When Putin invaded Crimea and Ukraine in 2014, a Democratic president did nothing. In 2018 in Helsinki, after Donald Trump was asked if he believed U.S. intelligence agencies or Putin when it came to the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the then-president took Moscow’s side and effectively pledged his fealty to Putin.

In the face of Russian aggression, one president after another has shown weakness. And what has that led to? Another invasion. 

But now, under the leadership of the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. is finally pushing back. During a news conference on Thursday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vice President Harris slammed Trump’s suggestion Ukraine cede territory to Russia to end the war.

“There are some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality and would require Ukraine to forego security relationships with other nations,” Harris said during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

“These proposals are the same of those of Putin. And let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace,” she added. “Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.”

If Trump is elected in November, we’ll go right back to the status quo of Russian appeasement. If Trump surrenders Ukraine to Putin, we know what’s next: Poland, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 

And for those who naively think the U.S. can stay out of it: If they’re invading NATO countries, it’s going to be our men and women on the ground fighting and dying.