Harris blasts proposals for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia during Zelenskyy meeting

WASHINGTON (AP) — With American support for Ukraine at a partisan crossroads, Vice President Kamala Harris 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 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.

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.

It was a far different impression than Harris delivered on 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.

No movement on this issue was evident during Zelenskyy's visit. However, 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 he 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.

Americans are also split on which presidential candidate would do a better job handling the war. An AP-NORC poll from August found that about one-third of Americans said they trusted Harris more, while a similar share said the same about Trump.

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.

Administration officials have been skeptical of Zelenskyy's request, believing the weapons could have limited benefits but increase the risk of escalating the conflict. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said senators gave Zelenskyy advice on how to persuade Biden to loosen restrictions.

Rep. Jim Himes, another Connecticut Democrat and the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Zelenskyy wanted “more, faster.”

“He was politely frustrated," Himes said, and specifically requested more Patriot missile defenses as Russia escalates strikes on Ukraine's cities and energy grid before the winter.

Zelenskyy faces a much more tense situation with Trump. The latest round of sniping started on Sunday, when The New Yorker published an interview with Zelenskyy in which he criticized JD Vance, Trump's running mate, as “too radical” for suggesting that Ukraine needs to give up some territory to end the war. Zelenskyy also dismissed Trump's boasts that he could quickly negotiate a solution, saying “my feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.”

On the same day, Zelenskyy toured a Pennsylvania factory producing munitions for the war. He was joined by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, a top surrogate for Harris, and Republicans criticized the visit as a political stunt in a political battleground state.

House Speaker Mike Johnson demanded that Zelenskyy fire the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., alleging that the tour was “designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference.” The Louisiana Republican didn't attend any of lawmakers' meetings with Zelenskyy on Thursday.

Trump complained this week that Zelenskyy is “making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me.” He also described the Ukrainian leader as “the greatest salesman on Earth” for securing U.S. support, and he complained that “we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal” to end the war. Trump’s message dovetails with Russian propaganda that claims intransigence by Kyiv — not aggression from Moscow — has prolonged the bloodshed.

Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Zelenskyy is in a “no-win situation" where he “can’t even visit a U.S. weapons manufacturer to say thank you without being attacked.”

Trump was impeached during his first term over asking Zelenskyy for help investigating Biden, then a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, at a time when the Ukrainian leader was seeking support from Washington. Now there are fears that Trump would cut off or add strings to U.S. military assistance if he returned to the White House.

Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Trump is not wrong to want a negotiated end to the war. However, he said, Trump risks undermining Ukraine by enabling Putin to make more gains on the battlefield.

“Neither Ukraine nor Russia is going to win this war, and the sooner that the parties try to end this, the better," Kupchan said. "Where Trump goes off course, and where Biden and Harris have a much stronger argument, is that we get to that point not by throwing Ukraine under the bus but by giving them sufficient support so they can block further Russian aggression.”

Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in the vice president's ceremonial office inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Joe Biden meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in the vice president's ceremonial office inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Vice President Kamala Harris accompanied by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, waves from the balcony of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at Trump Tower in New York, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Seth Wenig)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens as Vice President Kamala Harris speaks Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in the vice president's ceremonial office inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Joe Biden, right, listens as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, speaks during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in the vice president's ceremonial office inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in the vice president's ceremonial office inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, walks with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as he arrives for a briefing with lawmakers about the war effort against Russia, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, gestures with his hand over his heart after a closed meeting with lawmakers in the House of Representatives about the war effort against Russia, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, walks with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as he arrives for a briefing with lawmakers about the war effort against Russia, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Joe Biden speaks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the Economic Club of Pittsburgh on the Carnegie Mellon University campus in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives to address the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at the UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Zelenskyy is visiting the White House as a partisan divide grows over Ukraine war

Zelenskyy is visiting the White House as a partisan divide grows over Ukraine war

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — An FBI agent who interviewed two former Memphis police officers on trial in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols testified Thursday that they accepted accountability for participating.

FBI Special Agent Anthony Householder took the stand in the federal trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who have pleaded not guilty to charges of excessive force, failure to intervene, and obstructing justice through witness tampering. Two other former officers, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., have testified after pleading guilty to depriving Nichols of his civil rights.

Householder said he interviewed Bean and Smith as part of the FBI’s investigation into the January 2023 beating.

Householder said Smith told him that he and Martin both punched Nichols. Smith said he should have stopped Martin from punching Nichols, Householder said.

Smith added that he didn’t tell emergency medical technicians about punches delivered to Nichols because he thought Nichols would be able to tell them himself, Householder said. Nichols died in the hospital on Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating.

The officers used pepper spray and a Taser on Nichols, who was Black, during a traffic stop, but the 29-year-old ran away, police video shows. The five officers, who also are Black, then punched, kicked and hit him about a block from his home, as he called out for his mother. Video also shows the officers milling about and even laughing as Nichols struggled with his injuries.

Smith “took ownership” and said he had failed, Householder testified. The FBI agent also acknowledged that Smith cried during the interview.

“He was certainly remorseful,” Householder said.

Bean also accepted responsibility and told Householder that he had previously omitted information about the beating because he did not want to be labeled a “snitch,” the FBI agent testified.

“He didn’t want to throw his team under the bus,” Householder said.

Householder said he did not record the interviews. Under questioning by Bean’s lawyer, John Keith Perry, Householder acknowledged that some agents do record such interviews, which are summarized by FBI agents and known as proffers. But the recordings are not required, Householder said.

Taylor Chesser, a nurse who treated Nichols in the emergency room, said he was in cardiac arrest and not breathing when he arrived at the hospital. Chesser said medical providers eventually were able to restore his heart beat.

Nichols was “dead until we intervened,” Chesser said.

Prosecutors rested their case after her testimony.

Lawyers for the three officers then requested an acquittal based on claims that prosecutors have failed to present enough evidence. U.S. District Judge Mark Norris did not immediately rule on the requests Thursday.

Earlier Thursday, Mills testified he had not previously seen Bean nor Smith participate in the “street tax,” which is police slang for punishing people who run away from police. Prosecutors maintain officers employed the “street tax” or “run tax ” against Nichols.

The officers were part of a since-disbanded crime suppression unit. Under cross-examination from Smith's lawyer, Martin Zummach, Mills said he got to know Smith well in the two years they rode together with the Scorpion Unit. Mills said he had not previously seen Smith abuse people and Smith would not tolerate other officers mistreating suspects.

Mills, who used pepper spray on Nichols and hit him with a baton, said it’s possible that the beating could have ended if one of the officers had said to stop.

Mills, who cried on the stand and apologized during testimony earlier in the week, said Thursday that he “couldn’t hold it no more” after seeing the video of the beating.

“I wasn’t going to stand and say I did right,” Mills said.

Bean, Haley and Smith face up to life in prison if convicted.

The five officers also have been charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas. A trial date in state court has not been set.

Associated Press reporter Kimberlee Kruesi contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.

Former Memphis police officer Tadarrius Bean, left, arrives at the federal courthouse with his attorney John Keith Perry, right, for the day's proceedings during the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Former Memphis police officer Justin Smith arrives at the federal courthouse for the day's proceedings during the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Former Memphis police officer Desmond Mills, left, arrives at the federal courthouse with his attorney Blake Ballin, right, to testify against his former colleagues during the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols, closes her eyes during a prayer vigil outside the federal courthouse during the trial of three former Memphis police officers accused of killing her son Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)