Vice President Kamala Harris said she would not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine unless Kyiv was involved.

Ms. Harris’ comments come in a wide-ranging interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” in which correspondent Bill Whitaker asked the Democratic presidential nominee about the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as domestic topics like the economy and immigration.

On the war in Ukraine, Mr. Whitaker asked Ms. Harris whether she would meet with Mr. Putin to negotiate a solution to the conflict.

---

---

“Not bilaterally without Ukraine, no,” Ms Harris said. “Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine.”

Ms. Harris said if her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, were still in office, “Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now.”

She suggested that Mr. Trump’s repeated assertions that, if elected, he could end the war in Ukraine on day one of his second term — or even before his inauguration — are signals that he would give into Mr. Putin.

“You know what that is?” the vice president said. “It’s about surrender.”

Ms. Harris declined to say whether she would support expanding NATO to include Ukraine, which Kyiv wants.

“Those are all issues that we will deal with if and when it arrives at that point,” she said. “Right now we are supporting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked aggression.”

Mr. Trump initially agreed to an interview with CBS for the traditional “60 Minutes” episode that airs before presidential elections but “backed out” a week ago, with his campaign offering “shifting explanations,” correspondent Scott Pelley said on the broadcast.

“First, he complained that we would fact-check the interview. We fact-check every story,” Mr. Pelley said. “Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020. Trump claims correspondent Lesley Stahl said in that interview that Hunter Biden’s controversial laptop came from Russia. She never said that.”

In the contentious interview, Ms. Stahl did repeatedly tell Mr. Trump that the laptop was not verified and that “60 Minutes” “can’t put on things we can’t verify.” It was later verified as authentic by CBS and other news outlets.

Ms. Harris’ “60 Minutes” interview, airing on the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, opened with questions on that topic.

Ms. Harris reiterated her view that “Israel has a right to defend itself,” but said “how it does so matters.”

“Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” she said. “This war has to end.”

Ms. Harris carefully avoided directly criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid repeated questions from Mr. Whitaker about whether the U.S. has no sway with him.

Mr. Netanyahu has been criticized by the Biden administration as an obstacle to a cease-fire in Gaza and has ignored its warnings not to strike into Lebanon in response to Hezbollah’s rocket attacks from there into Israel.

“The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles,” she said. “We’re not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end”

Asked whether the U.S. has a “real close ally” in Mr. Netanyahu, Ms. Harris resisted that framing of the matter.

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

Mr. Whitaker also pressed Ms. Harris on her economic plans, specifically how she would pay for housing, family, small business and other government benefits that the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates would add $3 trillion to the deficit.

“One of the things that I’m going to make sure [of is] that the richest among us — who can afford it — pay their fair share in taxes,” the vice president said.

Mr. Whitaker asked how she would get such a plan through Congress, saying lawmakers have shown “no inclination” toward such proposals.

Ms. Harris disagreed.

“There are plenty of leaders in Congress who understand and know that the Trump tax cuts blew up our federal deficit,” she said, adding that she is “a capitalist, and I know the limitations of government.”