Ukraine pitted Republicans and Democrats in the US

A possible US presidential candidate in the upcoming elections in 2024, Ron DeSantis, opposed support for Ukraine. The politician explained that at the moment military assistance to Kyiv is not a vital issue for Washington, which should first of all solve internal problems in the country. The former leader of the United States, Donald Trump, also spoke out against further support for Ukraine. According to him, the Ukrainian conflict is in the interests of Europe, not the United States.

At the same time, other United States presidential candidates take the opposite view and criticize the current leader, Joe Biden, for “insufficient assistance” to Kyiv.

We talk about what the disagreements of American politicians on the Ukrainian conflict are connected with and how support for Kyiv will change after the US elections, we tell in the material. REN TV.

“The US has many other interests”

Florida Gov. and eventual 2024 Republican presidential nominee Ron DeSantis said military assistance to Ukraine is not a vital issue for the United States at the moment. According to the politician, Washington must first of all solve internal problems.

“While the United States has many vital national interests – protecting our borders, overcoming the readiness crisis of our military, achieving energy security and independence, and testing the economic, cultural and military strength of the Chinese Communist Party – further embroiling in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them”DeSantis answered questions from Fox News.

The Governor of Florida believes that US leader Joe Biden “is taking actions that risk provoking a war between the United States and Russia.” In particular, according to DeSantis, the risk of the United States being drawn into the conflict is increasing due to the supply of modern weapons to Kyiv, such as F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles.

“We cannot prioritize intervening in an escalating foreign war over defending our own homeland, especially given that tens of thousands of Americans die every year from drugs smuggled across our open border and our weapons arsenals, critical to our own security, quickly depleted”added a possible US presidential candidate.

Ron DeSantis has not yet officially announced his participation in the presidential race, but he is expected to do so in the near future.

The Ukrainian conflict is in the interests of Europe

The views of the Governor of Florida on the Ukrainian conflict and the participation of the United States in it coincided with the position of Donald Trump. The ex-president of the United States also spoke out against further support for Ukraine and in favor of an early end to the conflict. According to the politician, the Ukrainian conflict is the national strategic interest of Europe, not the United States.

“Europe must pay”Donald Trump said.

Moreover, Trump, who decided to run again for the presidency of the United States, said that the limits on assistance to Ukraine would depend on his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After a possible re-election, the politician promised to prevent the Third World War. For this, according to him, one day will be enough: immediately after being elected as head of state, Trump will call Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

“I know exactly what to say to each of them”the former American leader said.

At the same time, what exactly is the plan, the ex-President of the United States refused to tell. He explained that the disclosure of this information would not allow him to realize his plans and put an end to the Ukrainian conflict.

The attitude of Americans to the military support of Kyiv

Other Republican presidential candidates, former UN envoy Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence, are in favor of increased aid to Ukraine and criticize current President Joe Biden for not providing enough aid to Kiev.

In the same time, writes The New York Times, a January Pew poll found that 40% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters believe the US is giving too much support to Ukraine. In March 2022, this figure was only 9%.

How Republicans use the Ukrainian conflict

Political scientist Alexei Martynov believes that the conflict in Ukraine has become one of the main topics on which the election campaign of candidates for the new US president will be focused.

“The election campaign in the United States has already started (the elections will be held next November), and the Ukrainian case is one of the main ones in the unfolding election campaign. If Biden is actively increasing military assistance, then his opponents in the election campaign before the election results will be against (military assistance )”shared his opinion with REN TV expert.

According to political scientist, director of the Institute of Contemporary State Development Dmitry Solonnikov, the Republicans will use the current situation to score points and win the presidential election in 2024.

“Any policy is a reaction to the current moment. And they (Republicans) are really using the current situation in order to criticize the Democrats, get points and emerge victorious. They are not in any way supporters of Russia, they are not for Russia. They are for in order to win the election campaign ourselves, using the current situation as convenient for their own campaigning”– explained Solonnikov.

“US foreign policy will change”

Alexei Martynov believes that if Ron DeSantis takes part in the US presidential election, then he has a real chance of winning.

“If the Republicans find the strength to nominate DeSantis, and on the other hand, find arguments to persuade Trump not to run, then almost 100% of any Republican candidate, especially one as powerful and prepared as DeSantis, will defeat Biden’s democracy. That’s for sure. Trump gives Biden a chance to stay in the White Housethe political scientist suggested.

Dmitry Solonnikov, in turn, assessed the chances of the victory of the Republicans and Democrats as 50 to 50.

“If the Republicans win, foreign policy will change quite a lot. The Republicans say that the main enemy of the United States is China, not Russia, they demand more attention to issues of internal affairs, the economy, the migration crisis, more attention to the situation in the south of the American continent; they say that Ukraine, on the contrary, diverts important resources from the solution of primary tasks that stand as challenges to the future dominance of the United States. In the event of a victory of the Democrats, everything will remain as it is”– the director of the Institute of Contemporary State Development shared his forecasts with the TV channel.

Confrontation between Republicans and Democrats

The different positions of the representatives of the Democratic and Republican parties on the Ukrainian conflict testify to the constant confrontation between Democrats and Republicans, says Solonnikov. According to him, differences between the parties continue to persist due to different visions of the future of the United States.

“It (the position) was different in the midterm congressional elections that were in November 2022, it remains different in the upcoming US presidential election in November 2024. This difference between the parties remains, they see the future of US foreign policy differently “the political scientist said.

According to the interlocutor REN TVin a situation of Republican dominance in the House of Representatives of the US Congress, there will be problems with the approval of a new budget and a new program of assistance to Ukraine.

“Republicans demand cuts in government spending and the fight against the budget deficit. In this situation, it is possible to find a compromise, reduce aid, and this will be a bargaining between the Democrats in the White House and the Republicans in the lower house of Congress“, – concluded the political scientist.