Fact Check: Did Kamala Harris say Ukraine is a ‘country in Europe’, next to Russia?

WASHINGTON, DC: It is believed that US Vice President Kamala Harris once said, "Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So basically that's wrong."

Context of the statement

Kamala Harris made this statement in March 2022 in response to a journalist's request to explain the Ukraine-Russia situation in simple terms. She elaborated further on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, stressing that Russia's actions were unprovoked and unjustified.

On July 21, 2024, following President Joe Biden's decision to step down as the Democratic candidate for the upcoming presidential election and his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, several videos featuring Harris began circulating online. One of these videos included the viral audio of Harris' comments on the Ukraine-Russia war.

Kamala Harris' statement, as quoted, was made during an interview with the radio show 'The Morning Hustle' on March 1, 2022. The relevant portion of this interview has been uploaded to YouTube, starting at the 3-minute mark:

During the interview, Harris was asked to explain the situation in layman's terms for those who might not understand the complexities of the geopolitical conflict. Here is a transcription of the part of the interview in question as provided by Snopes:

Journalist: "For those who are just joining us, we're talking to Vice President Kamala Harris, and uh, if you're watching any level of news, even social media, you're seeing everything that's going on right now in Ukraine. Break it down to layman's terms for people who don't understand what's going on and how can this directly affect the people of the United States."

Kamala Harris: "So, Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically that's wrong. And it goes against everything that we stand for. There are terms that we use, we say, 'We respect the sovereignty, the territorial integrity of countries,' right? Their independence. Russia has gone into Ukraine militarily, unprovoked, with no justification other than to exercise its power to take over another country. So essentially that's what's at stake and we as America are saying that's wrong and we will stand with Ukraine in saying that that is wrong. But that's essentially where we are, that's essentially the issue. And when it comes to what we know to be principles of fairness, we know that what Russia is doing is wrong. When it comes to what needs to happen then, well there needs to be severe consequence and accountability, and that's why you'll hear on the news that we talk about sanctions, which is basically having Russia pay a financial cost to the point that we can have a real impact, put a real hurt on their economy as a consequence for their bad behavior, which is resulting in the loss of innocent lives. And that's where we are, that's what the issue is, essentially."

Rating

Given that Kamala Harris did indeed make the statement in question, and considering the context in which it was said, the claim that she said, "Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So basically that's wrong," is accurate.

Therefore, this claim is rated as Correct Attribution.