Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has sharply broken with Republicans who are determined to defend Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, saying in a statement made public on Monday night that protecting the European nation’s borders is not a vital U.S. interest and that policymakers should instead focus attention at home.
The statement from DeSantis, seen as an all-but-declared presidential candidate for the 2024 campaign, puts him in line with the front-runner for the GOP nomination, former President Donald Trump.
The venue DeSantis chose for his statement on a major foreign policy question revealed almost as much as the substance of the statement itself. It was broadcast on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” on Fox News.
The statement came in response to a questionnaire that Carlson sent last week to all major prospective Republican presidential candidates.
On Carlson’s show, DeSantis separated himself from Republicans who say the problem with President Biden’s Ukraine policy is that he’s not doing enough. DeSantis made clear he thinks Biden is doing too much, without a clearly defined objective, and taking actions that risk provoking war between the U.S. and Russia.
Carlson is one of the most ardent opponents of U.S. involvement in Ukraine. He has called President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine a corrupt “antihero” and mocked him for dressing “like the manager of a strip club.”
“While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness with our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural and military power of the Chinese Communist Party — becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis said in a statement that Carlson read aloud on his show.
DeSantis’ views on Ukraine policy now align with Trump’s. The former president also answered Carlson’s questionnaire.
Trump said “both sides are weary and ready to make a deal” and that the “death and destruction must end now.” Trump has already said he would let Russia “take over” parts of Ukraine in a negotiated deal.
The position taken by DeSantis and Trump is at odds with the passionate support for defending Ukraine demonstrated by some other potential GOP candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
It is also sharply at odds with most Republican senators, including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader.
Until now, Mr. DeSantis, who has yet to formally announce he’s running for president, has largely avoided talking in specifics about Ukraine. For a leader who takes pride in being aggressively proactive and keeping his opponents on the run, he has been caught flat-footed at times during his recent book tour as reporters have pressed him on the most important question in foreign policy.
He flashed irritation at a reporter for The Times of London who pushed DeSantis on how he proposed Ukraine should be handled differently, given he was attacking Mr. Biden as “weak on the world stage” and failing at deterrence.
“Perhaps you should cover some other ground?” Mr. DeSantis said. “I think I’ve said enough.”
