Helping Ukraine is not a vital strategic interest for the United States

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis criticized President Biden’s support for Ukraine on Monday and said helping the European country fend off invading Russian forces is not a vital national interest.

DeSantis, whose allies have privately reported that he plans to run for president in 2024, issued the statement in response to a questionnaire that Fox News host Tucker Carlson sent out to all potential Republican presidential candidates last week.

The host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” asked the declared and potential candidates whether US opposition to Russia in Ukraine was a vital American strategic interest. what is the US goal in Ukraine and how will the US know when it has been achieved; There must be an end to the arms and money sent to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; Were US sanctions against Russia effective? Is the United States facing the threat of nuclear war with Russia?

In his response, DeSantis, 44, separated himself from Republicans who say the problem with the 80-year-old president’s Ukraine policy is that he hasn’t done enough.

“While the United States has many vital national interests—securing our borders, addressing the readiness crisis within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military might of the Chinese Communist Party—becoming more involved in the territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not among them.” , DeSantis he said in a statement.

“The Biden administration’s hypothetical ‘blank-check’ funding of this conflict ‘as long as it takes,’ without any specific goals or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges,” he said.

The governor of the Sunshine State said that “peace should be the goal” in Ukraine and that the United States should not provide Zelensky with weapons that would require the deployment of American forces or allow the Ukrainian military to engage in operations inside Russian territory.

“So F-16s and long-range missiles should be off the table,” DeSantis argued.

These moves would openly drag the United States into the conflict and bring us closer to a hot war between the two largest nuclear powers in the world. He added that this risk is unacceptable.

DeSantis has indicated that he is against a policy of “regime change” in Russia, saying it would increase the likelihood of nuclear weapons being used and could produce a leader “more ruthless” than Russian President Vladimir Putin.

DeSantis also accused Biden’s policies of pushing “Russia into a de facto alliance with China” and enabling “Russia’s energy-dominated economy and Putin’s war machine at the expense of Americans.”

Our citizens also have the right to know how billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money are being used in Ukraine. We cannot prioritize intervention in an escalating foreign war over defending our homeland, especially since tens of thousands of Americans die each year from drugs smuggled across our open borders and our arsenals vital to our security are rapidly depleted,” DeSantis concluded in his response to the questionnaire.

DeSantis’ views on the Ukraine war align with former President Donald Trump, who will be his fiercest opponent in the 2024 Republican primary.

Trump told Carlson that opposing Russia in Ukraine is not a vital strategic interest for the United States, but it is for Europe.

“That is why Europe must pay much more than we are, or equal,” he said.

The 76-year-old former president averages 45% support in early polls, according to RealClearPolitics, while DeSantis averages 29% support.