Ron DeSantis Calls Putin a ‘War Criminal,’ Clarifying Earlier Comment on Ukraine

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis this week clarified his description of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute” and said that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin is a “war criminal” who must “in charge of”.

Mr DeSantis, a Republican who is expected to announce his presidential campaign in the coming months, made his latest comments in an interview with British broadcaster Piers. Morgan, who shared them with The New York Post and Fox News, both owned by Rupert Murdoch. .

Last week, Mr. DeSantis delivered one of the most significant statements of the 2024 presidential campaign to date, with influential Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who criticized the approach. the Biden administration’s approach to Ukraine. “Although the United States has many vital national interests,” Mr. DeSantis said in his statement“The entanglement in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them.”

Mr. DeSantis then did not mention Putin and criticized President Biden’s policy of being a “blank check” towards Ukraine without a clear goal, a distraction from American affairs.

The “territorial dispute” approach has been heavily criticized by foreign policy hardliners, as well as by Republicans in Congress and some Republican donors on the matter. personal face. It also makes Mr. DeSantis’ views more consistent with those of former President Donald J. Trump.

But Mr DeSantis used a seemingly lengthy interview with Mr Morgan earlier this week to clarify his statement to Mr Carlson.

“I think he is a war criminal,” Mr. DeSantis said of Putin, on whom the International Criminal Court ruled. arrest warrant for war crimes. “I don’t know about that route,” he said of the arrest warrant, “but I think he’s responsible.”

As for Mr Morgan, Mr DeSantis insisted that his comment on the “territorial dispute” had been “mischaracterized”, but he admitted he could have been clearer.

“It was clear that Russia invaded” in 2022, Mr. DeSantis said. “That’s not true. They invaded Crimea and took it in 2014 – that’s wrong.”

As a Florida congressman, DeSantis blamed the Obama administration for not doing more when Russia annexed Crimea.

“What I’m talking about is where the fighting is taking place, which is the eastern border area, the Donbas, and then the Crimea,” Mr DeSantis said. He added, “There are a lot of ethnic Russians there. So it was a tough skirmish, and that’s what I mean, and so it’s not that I think Russia has a right to that, and so if I should have been more specific I would have can do.”

But he added: “I think the bigger problem is, OK, Russia doesn’t show the ability to take over Ukraine, topple the government, or definitely threaten NATO. It’s a good thing. I just don’t think it’s a concern enough for us to escalate engagement more. I don’t want to see American troops involved there. But the idea that I think somehow Russia is right” to invade is “absurd.”

He added that he did not believe the conflict would end with “Putin winning. I don’t think the Ukrainian government will be overthrown by him, and I think that’s a good thing.”

Mr. DeSantis’ stance on Russia has attracted considerable interest from Republicans seeking an alternative to Mr. Trump. A large number of Republicans Voters have come to say that the US is giving too much support to Ukraine.

The governor has a congressional record that makes others believe he shares their foreign policy viewseven if those people are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

But his comments to Carlson have been criticized by several Republican senators, former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney and potential 2024 contenders such as Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey. , vehemently condemned. And the lack of initial criticism of Mr. Putin was noted, especially when Mr. DeSantis, in his first statement to Mr. Carlson, mocked the view of regime change in Russia.