What DeSantis, Other Republicans Are Saying About Ukraine Could Actually Affect the War
What DeSantis, Other Republicans Are Saying About Ukraine Could Actually Affect the War
Republican waffling said to embolden Vladimir Putin
Comments which diminish Russia's culpability for the war in Ukraine — or otherwise cast doubt on US resolve to support Ukraine in its efforts — actually can impact the war itself, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin listens to those comments and actively incorporates them in his war planning.
That's according to elected officials and political commentators.
Testing the waters for a potential bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis recently had to walk back comments which created a political firestorm in which he characterized the year-plus full Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “border dispute.”
The borders between Russia and Ukraine as they existed before the war are internationally recognized.
The Biden administration has worked with NATO and a coalition of nations to provide Ukraine with weapons, ammunition, financial and other support in its struggle against Russian aggression.
A segment of the current Republican Party, largely aligned with Donald Trump's MAGA movement, however has been skeptical-to-hostile towards US involvement with Ukraine.
If he jumps into the race, DeSantis would be facing off against Trump, who himself, is seeking another term in the White House.
“But this isn’t just about positioning in a Republican primary. The rest of the world actually watches stuff like this very closely, including Vladimir Putin,” said Jen Psaki, who served as White House press secretary for President Biden and served as chief State Department spokeswoman in the Obama administration. “If he sees the two leading Republican candidates for president waffling on support for Ukraine, it gives some incentive to wait out the next year and a half and continue to pulverize Ukrainian civilians, rather than even being open to negotiating anything.
“So, Ron DeSantis may think this is just another political issue to manage in a primary, but what he is saying could actually impact the war. Europeans are watching this, too, and if they think the United States might waver in their support, that can impact their calculus as well,” added Psaki, who today is a host on the MSNBC network. “Look, I was with President Biden on his first overseas trip as president when the common concern he heard from other foreign leaders was whether they could depend on our commitment to our values and to our partners after four years of Donald Trump. ‘How long would it last?’ was their question. And you better believe that those concerns will resurface if they are sensing a return to the isolationist sentiment from the leading Republican candidates for president.
“Now, it may be that Ron DeSantis has lurched away from Trump on this issue and is a firm supporter of helping Ukraine. It may be that he’s lurched back. I honestly can’t tell,” she said. “But what I do know is this: Consistency matters. Commitment to values matters. And at the moment, Ron DeSantis isn’t showing much of either of those.”
US support for Ukraine very much is in American national security interests, according to Sen Mark Warner (D-Va), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “My response is twofold. Putin is a dangerous man. We have always known that. We have seen that the Russian offensive in Bakhmut, a city in the eastern part of Ukraine, seems to have stalled out. I'm hopeful that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is going to be successful.
“And I think it also drives home the point that any wannabe American political leader that refuses to acknowledge how dangerous Putin is or that somehow that, if Putin is success useful in Ukraine, that is against our national interest, what that would do in terms of threatening the Baltic states, what it would do in terms of threatening Poland, what it would do in terms of giving [China's] President Xi [Jinping] more of a green light to potentially take action against Taiwan, anyone who doesn't understand that is remarkably naive or not understanding the kind of geopolitical, challenging times that we live in,” he added.
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