Ron DeSantis dismisses Ukraine invasion as a ‘secondary or tertiary’ U.S. interest

FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis looks on after announcing a proposal for Digital Bill of Rights, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Ron DeSantis continues to suggest Ukraine doesn’t matter that much to America’s foreign policy.

During a CNN interview with Jake Tapper, the Governor called Ukraine a “secondary or tertiary” American interest after Tapper reminded him he wanted to send the country weapons while in Congress.

“First, a vital national interest to me means we would potentially send troops there. And I don’t think anybody wants to see troops in Ukraine. And I would believe that in 2015 as well. It’s more of a secondary or tertiary interest.”

The Governor said Ukraine is really Europe’s problem.

“I would have the Europeans do more in Europe. That’s more in their backyard, that’s more of an interest for them,” DeSantis said, adding that he would “be helpful to try to bring it to a conclusion there.”

DeSantis vowed to use “levers” against Vladimir Putin, whose country invaded Ukraine last year.

“We will pull some levers against Russia. We’re going to be much more aggressive on energy and export because I think that’s been Putin’s lifeline. I want the Europeans dependent on the United States for that, not him,” DeSantis said, before quickly pivoting from actions against the aggressive Russian state.

“We’re also going to turn the screws on the Iranians. The Iranians have been one of Putin’s biggest benefactors and they benefited from (Joe) Biden’s approach there. So we’ll use the leverage that we have. But the goal is going to be a sustainable peace that does not reward aggression.”

The Governor continues to explain away his Ukraine position.

During an interview Friday at Iowa’s Family Leadership Summit with Tucker Carlson, DeSantis bemoaned the problems created by diverging from the Biden “blank check” policy.

“You dissent from the D.C. foreign policy elite, they then try to smear you and say, ‘Oh, you must be for Putin.’ I’ve always thought Putin is a bad guy. I still think he’s a bad guy. But that’s a separate question for a leader who’s got to look at the world in very clear-eyed glasses. You know that it’s not all peaches and cream out there and you have to make a judgment about what’s in America’s national interest,” DeSantis said.

In that same interview, DeSantis reaffirmed his controversial framing of the war as a simple “territorial dispute,” a phrase he used in an essay provided to Carlson while he was still a Fox News host.

“They’re fighting over territory on the far eastern part of the country between Russia and Ukraine. And that’s kind of where this is at. So the question is OK, how do you get that to where we can stop this and also from our national interest,” DeSantis added.