Ron DeSantis insists Ukraine is NOT a ‘vital’ U.S. interest and calls it ‘territorial dispute’

By William On Mar 14, 2023

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a new statement that Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia is not a “vital national security interest” for the US, in comments calling the war a “territorial dispute.”

The Republican presidential nominee made the statement in response to a series of questions from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, at a time when Republicans in Congress have demanded more scrutiny for billions from U.S. aide and chairman Kevin McCarthy has said it’s not a “blank” may get. bill.’

His stance, which Carlson read with some astonishment on Monday night’s broadcast, distinguishes him from former Vice President Mike Pence, who said in his own comments that there was no place for “Putin apologists” in the Republican Party and claimed that “we who fight our enemies on their banks, so we don’t have to fight them ourselves.’

Wrote DeSantis, “While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of preparedness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and controlling the economic, cultural, and military might of the Chinese Communist Party – increasingly embroiled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said getting ‘further entangled in a territorial dispute’ between Russia and Ukraine is not among US ‘vital national interests’

DeSantis continued, “The Biden administration’s virtual “blank check” funding of this conflict for “as long as it takes,” with no defined goals or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges.”

His positions were revealed on a day when details emerged of the Pentagon’s $842 million budget request amid an effort to replenish supplies following the arming of Ukraine and the strengthening of NATO’s eastern flank.

They put him at odds with key Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who have rallied the US behind efforts to arm Ukraine.

The grim language got word from Carlson, the top-rated cable host, during his broadcast. ‘Until tonight no one could say exactly where [DeSantis] stood on the war in Ukraine, perhaps the most important subject in the world. And now we know that DeSantis is adamantly opposed to the position most Republicans in Washington have taken on Ukraine. DeSantis is not a neocon. Who knows?’

The statement comes as the Republican presidential field continues to take shape, with former President Donald Trump remaining the poll leader – Carlson named him the front-runner.

DeSantis has spoken out against providing Ukraine with F-16s and longer-range missiles, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for more and better weapons.

Carlson also read a statement from Trump saying he would negotiate an end to the war. It comes after the host revealed in internal emails in a Dominion lawsuit that he ‘despised’ Trump

The aid debate comes as Ukraine fights to retain control of Bakhmut, which is nearly surrounded by Russian forces. Here, Ukrainian soldiers fire an artillery cannon aimed at Russian positions near the Bakhmut frontline in Chasiv Yar

It is now more than a year since Russia launched its brutal invasion, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to call on the US and allies to provide more long-range weapons and ammunition, describing the war in Ukraine as protecting all of Europe from Russian aggression.

DeSantis, a former member of the House who served in the Navy Reserve as a military attorney in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, explicitly spoke out against two of Zelenksy’s requests.

The US should not provide any assistance that could require the deployment of US troops or enable Ukraine to conduct offensive operations beyond its borders. F-16s and long-range missiles should therefore be off the table,” he told Carlson. “These steps would risk the explicit involvement of the United States in the conflict and bring us closer to a hot war between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. That risk is unacceptable.’

Carlson also read Trump’s comments — a week after internal emails were released related to a Dominion lawsuit against Fox — in which he called Trump a “demonic force” and wrote, “I hate him passionately.”

DeSantis’ stance puts him close to Trump on Ukraine’s skepticism. The former president has long called the country “corrupt” and has repeatedly touted that he gets on well with Russia.

In his own statement, Trump says Russia would not have invaded under his watch, points to Biden’s chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan after his administration agreed a deadline with the Taliban, and says European allies would “retrospect” the US. force’ to pay for the difference between what the US and Europe spend to help Ukraine.

He then says he will negotiate for peace. The US would tell Ukraine that little more money will come from us UNLESS RUSSIA CONTINUE PROSECUTING THE WAR. The president needs to meet with both sides, then both sides together, and quickly work out a deal. This can be done easily if carried out by the right president. Both parties are tired and ready to make a deal. The meetings must start immediately, there is no time left. The death and destruction MUST END NOW!’ Trump wrote.

a Pew survey late January revealed waning support for Republicans supporting the war.

It found that 40 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe the US is over-supporting, up from 32 percent in the fall. Last March it was only 9 percent, right after Russia invaded.

DeSantis’ answers to Tucker Carlson’s questions about Ukraine

While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the preparedness crisis within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and controlling the Chinese Communist Party’s economic, cultural, and military power — more and more getting caught up in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them. The Biden administration’s virtual “blank check” funding of this conflict for “as long as it takes,” with no defined goals or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges.

Without a doubt, peace should be the goal. The US must not provide aid that could require the deployment of US troops or allow Ukraine to conduct offensive operations beyond its borders. F-16s and long-range missiles should therefore be off the table. These steps would risk the explicit involvement of the United States in the conflict and bring us closer to a hot war between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. That risk is unacceptable.

A policy of “regime change” in Russia (undoubtedly popular among DC foreign policy interventions) would vastly raise the stakes of the conflict, making the use of nuclear weapons more likely. Such a policy would neither stop the death and destruction of war nor produce a pro-American, Madisonian constitutionalist in the Kremlin. History indicates that Putin’s successor, in this hypothesis, would probably be even more ruthless. The cost of achieving such a dubious outcome can become astronomical.

The policies of the Biden administration have propelled Russia into a de facto alliance with China. Because China has not and will not comply with the embargo, Russia has increased its foreign earnings, while China benefits from cheaper fuel. Coupled with his deliberate depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and his support for the Left’s Green New Deal, Biden has further bolstered Russia’s energy-dominated economy and Putin’s war machine at the expense of the Americans.

Our citizens also have a right to know how US taxpayers’ billions of dollars are being used in Ukraine.

We cannot prioritize intervention in an escalating foreign war over the defense of our own homeland, especially as tens of thousands of Americans die each year from narcotics smuggled across our open border and our arsenals critical to our own security are rapidly being depleted.