Pessimism About Ukraine

Whether or not the United States will continue its military support for Ukraine past 2024 is in doubt. And Ukraine is running out of troops.

Governor Ron DeSantis speaking with attendees at a "Unite & Win Rally" at Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. (Flickr/Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons 2.0.)

On Mar. 13, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seen as the chief Republican alternative to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race, announced his position on Ukraine. Responding to questions from Fox News' Tucker Carlson, he said Ukraine was not a "vital national interest" for the United States. He called Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine a "territorial dispute."

He added, "peace should be the objective" and declared "we cannot prioritize intervention in an escalating foreign war over the defense of our own homeland." The statement included several attacks on the Biden administration.

While the statement did not explicitly rule out that DeSantis could continue providing military aid (minus things like F-16s and long-range missiles which the Biden Administration too has declined to provide), the missive was the clearest evidence to date that DeSantis has aligned himself with former President Donald Trump's isolationist position on Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly said he could end the war, without mentioning how. He has criticized Biden for sending tanks to Ukraine.