Ron DeSantis Calls For De-escalation In Ukraine: ‘Peace Should Be The Objective’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for the United States to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine. This is a stark contrast to many congressional Republicans who support indefinitely arming Ukraine and not finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Tucker Carlson, Fox News host, said that his team had sent questions to potential Russian-Ukraine conflicts and declared 2024 GOP presidential candidates. The list included questions like: “Is opposing Russia in Ukraine a vital strategic interest for America? “What is Ukraine’s objective? And how will we know when we have achieved it?” and “What is your limit on the amount of weapons and money you are willing to send? [Volodymyr] Zelensky?”

In his response to Carlson, DeSantis made clear his belief that getting further entangled in the Russia-Ukraine conflict is not vital to the strategic interests of the United States and called on Washington to pursue a policy of de-escalation.

“While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within 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. “The Biden administration’s virtual ‘blank check’ funding of this conflict for ‘as long as it takes,’ without any defined objectives or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges. Peace should be the goal.”

He continued, “The U.S. should not offer assistance that would require American troops to be deployed or allow Ukraine to engage in offensive actions beyond its borders. F-16s and long range missiles should be ruled out. These moves could risk explicitly drawing the United States in to the conflict, and bringing us closer towards a war between the two world’s largest nuclear powers. This is unacceptable.”

But the Florida governor didn’t stop there. According to Carlson, DeSantis expressed opposition to regime change in Russia and further criticized the Biden administration for helping foment the growing alliance between Moscow and Beijing.

“It is not possible to prioritize the defense of our homeland over intervention in an ever-escalating war abroad, especially when tens of thousands of Americans die each year from drug trafficking across our open border, and our weapons arsenals, which are vital for our security, are rapidly diminishing.” DeSantis said.

Predictably, the commonsense remarks evoked ire from Washington’s biggest neocons, who have emotionally latched themselves onto Ukraine and Zelensky like a magnet to a refrigerator.

“Whelp DeSantis threw in the towel with the crazies. Talk about a misread. Wined Adam Kinzinger is an ex-congressman from the GOP and Jan.6 Committee performance artist.

“DeSantis actually called Russia’s grotesque, aggressive invasion of a sovereign country a ‘territorial dispute.’ Both of the GOP front-runners are less tolerant of Russian aggression than Joe Biden. David French, a renowned pearl-clutcher and neocon. “Astonishing. Dangerous.”

Others neocons have also voiced their disapproval at DeSantis’ remarks. Bill Kristol, David Frum?, and Jonah Goldberg, Among other things.

DeSantis is not the only one. other potential 2024 GOP presidential primary contenders to respond to Carlson’s inquiry include former President Donald Trump, who argued it is “far more important” to “support regime change in the United States” than in Russia and voiced support for a negotiated peace settlement.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, however, took the opposite position from Trump and DeSantis, writing the U.S. is “paying the Ukrainians to fight Russia so we won’t have to fight Russians ourselves.” In his statement, Pence went on to claim the “talk of nuclear war is a bullying tactic” used by Putin to launch the invasion and that there “is no room for Putin apologists in the Republican Party.”

Other Republicans to offer their views on the Russia-Ukraine conflict include former biotech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood