Ron DeSantis is ready to bring the Ukraine war ‘in for a landing’

Ron DeSantis continues to explain his Ukraine position, maintaining that it’s time to bring the Russian invasion “in for a landing,” though it’s unclear still what terms of peace he prefers.

“What is kind of the state of play here? The initial Russian invasion, I think the goal was for them to topple the Ukrainian government and impose a Belarus style puppet state in Ukraine that Moscow would have influence over. Obviously, they didn’t succeed in that,” DeSantis said. “It was a huge failure.”

The Governor went on to effectively restate his controversial position that Russia’s invasion of its neighbor was a mere territorial dispute.

“So the fight is over that territory in the very far eastern part of Ukraine, they’re battling over different parts of the territory there. Now I think that we need to bring it in for a landing. I want to see a sustainable peace.”

DeSantis was unclear about what a “sustainable peace” means, meanwhile.

“We know we’re not going to reward aggression. But I think we’re on the pathway right now to have a multi year stalemate where a lot of blood is spilled. A lot of money spent. A lot of weapons are used and there’s not going to be much of a difference in outcomes.”

In a previous interview on CNN this week, DeSantis diminished the idea that Ukraine’s fate was a primary concern for America. The Governor called Ukraine a “secondary or tertiary” American interest after Tapper reminded him he wanted to send the country weapons while in Congress.

During an interview Friday at Iowa’s Family Leadership Summit with Tucker Carlson, DeSantis framed his position as one of knowing foreign policy isn’t all “peaches and cream,” adding that he knew Vladimir Putin was a “bad guy.”

“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.

DeSantis made the comments Wednesday night on Newsmax to host Eric Bolling.