Since describing the war in Ukraine as a “territorial dispute” that’s not a vital national interest, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has received criticism from leading Republicans — including some of his rivals for the 2024 presidential nomination — and rightly so. DeSantis’s comments echo a faction of the party eager to end U.S. involvement in Ukraine. Republicans should be under no illusions: Such views represent an abdication of leadership that will cheer America’s adversaries and undermine its allies.
In his response to a six-question survey from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, DeSantis recently argued that “peace should be the objective,” and the U.S. should not become “further entangled” in the fighting. Providing Ukraine with fighter jets or long-range missiles “should be off the table,” he added. Echoing his dismissal of President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv last month, the governor contended that U.S. support for Ukraine has compromised its ability to deal with more pressing concerns.
It’s hard to quibble with some of DeSantis’s arguments. He’s right to highlight the depletion of the Pentagon’s weapons stockpiles and to call for more transparency about how “the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being utilized in Ukraine.” The war has indisputably strengthened Russia’s “de facto alliance with China,” to the detriment of the West. And it’s true, as DeSantis warns, that trying to overthrow Vladimir Putin would run the risk of direct conflict with Russia — which is why no Western leader has made regime change an explicit policy goal.
