Global Courant 2023-04-26 05:31:16
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said it is in the best interest of the world for a ceasefire to be negotiated in Ukraine.
DeSantis made the comments Tuesday during an extended interview with Nikkei Asia while the governor of Florida is in Japan on an international trade mission.
In the interview, DeSantis warned that a protracted war in Ukraine is possible.
“You don’t want to end up in a (Battle of) Verdun situation, where all you have is massive casualties, massive costs and stalemate,” DeSantis said. “It’s in everyone’s best interest to try and get to a place where we can have a ceasefire.”
DESANTIS SAYS UKRAINE COMMENTS WERE ‘WRONG’
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis addresses Iowa voters (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
More than 700,000 people were killed or wounded during the 302-day Battle of Verdun during World War I.
DeSantis also called on Europe, and Germany in particular, for allegedly not doing enough to help Ukraine.
“The Europeans really need to do more (to Ukraine). I mean, this is their continent. The US has provided security. And yes, Poland – there are those who do things, and that should be appreciated. But Germany, they do nothing,” DeSantis said.
“We have foreign policy elites who do things without a concrete goal in mind,” DeSantis added.
DeSantis’ remarks come after he told Fox News that the United States should not get further involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the preparedness crisis within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and controlling the Chinese Communist Party’s economic, cultural, and military power — ensnaring them further in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis said.
DESANTIS SAYS PUTIN IS ‘A WAR CRIMINAL’ IN PIERS MORGAN INTERVIEW
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (center) introduces his wife Casey (left) to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a courtesy visit to his Tokyo residence on April 24, 2023. (KIMIMASA MAYAMA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
He later told Fox Nation’s “Piers Morgan Uncensored” that the comments were “mischaracterized” after criticism from Republicans, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and “basically a gas station with a bunch of nukes.”
“Well, I think it’s been mischaracterized. Obviously Russia invaded that and that was wrong,” DeSantis said. “They invaded Crimea and took it in 2014. That was wrong. What I’m talking about is kind of where the fighting is going on right now, which is that western border or eastern border reaching Donbas and then Crimea.”
DeSantis said his previous remarks calling the war a “territorial dispute” referred to “the conflict zone” rather than expressing that “Russia was entitled to it.”
“And so, if I had to make that clearer, I could have,” DeSantis said. “But I think the bigger point is, OK, Russia is not showing the ability to take over Ukraine, to overthrow the government or certainly to threaten NATO. That’s a good thing. They’re weakened. You now have the fighting in those areas.”
A view shows residential buildings damaged in a military strike, as the Russian assault on Ukraine continues, in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region, Ukraine April 16, 2022. (REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko)
“If I could snap my fingers, I would return it 100 percent to Ukraine,” DeSantis added. “Russia had no right to enter Crimea or to go in February 2022, and that should be clear.”
Fox News’ Julia Musto and Kerry J. Byrne contributed to this report.
Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @asabes10.
