(CNN) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has criticized the Joe Biden administration’s aid to Ukraine as a “blank check” and questioned whether the United States should get involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine at all.
“I don’t think it’s in our interest to get into a proxy war with China, or get involved in things like a dispute over borderlands or Crimea,” DeSantis told Fox News, referring to Ukrainian lands that Russia has seized.
The Florida governor’s remarks on the occasion of Biden’s surprise visit to Kiev were the most critical of the United States’ involvement in the war since the conflict began a year ago.
Asked “what would victory look like” for the United States, he downplayed Moscow’s military actions so far, saying Russia had “been real wounded, suffered enormous losses” without acknowledging the role that US weapons, intelligence and aid played in the conflict.
He insisted that Russia did not pose a threat “on the same level as China,” and said, “The fear of Russia invading NATO countries does not seem close to happening.”
Of the Russians, he said, “I think they have shown themselves to be a third-rate military force.”