Kamala Harris silent on China, says no to direct talks with Putin: 60 Minutes interview

The US vice-president and Democratic presidential nominee sits down for a CBS News interview less than a month before election day

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The rare solo interview with US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Monday night did not touch on China-related topics. Photo: CBS

Published: 12:28pm, 8 Oct 2024Updated: 1:00am, 10 Oct 2024

US Vice-President Kamala Harris refrained from discussing her China policy in a rare solo network interview for the CBS programme “60 Minutes” that aired on Monday night, instead focusing on Ukraine and Israel.

Harris rejected the option of opening direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine war and was non-committal on including Ukraine in a possible expansion of Nato.

“Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine. [As for Nato], we will deal with if and when it arrives at that point,” Harris said.

“Right now, we are supporting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked aggression,” she added, claiming that Putin “would be sitting in Kyiv right now” if former president Donald Trump was in the White House.

The Democratic candidate also refused to directly answer whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “a real close [US] ally”.

“I think, with all due respect, the better question is ‘do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people?’ And the answer to that question is yes.”