Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, after the Republican questioned America’s ongoing support for Ukraine as Russia continues to invade the country, calling military support of Ukraine “not a key U.S. interest.”
Zelenskyy, in an interview with The Atlantic, pointed out that if Russia fully occupies Ukraine, what’s to stop Vladimir Putin if he decides to invade Moldova, or Belarus, or occupy Latvia or other Eastern European countries?
He also stated that if Ukraine falls, smaller countries might struggle to defend themselves once they’ve become the next target for Russia — especially since, Zelenskyy explains, Russia wants to “take back all countries” who were part of the Soviet Union.
“If we will not have enough weapons, that means we will be weak. If we will be weak, they will occupy us. If they occupy us, they will be on the borders of Moldova and they will occupy Moldova. When they have occupied Moldova, they will [travel through] Belarus and they will occupy Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. That’s three Baltic countries which are members of NATO. They will occupy them. Of course [the Balts] are brave people, and they will fight. But they are small. And they don’t have nuclear weapons. So they will be attacked by Russians because that is the policy of Russia, to take back all the countries which have been previously part of the Soviet Union.”
Asides from that, Zelenskyy also mentions a potential war between Russia and NATO, and asked DeSantis when should America support its allies, if not now? Should it be during the start of such a conflagration, when it’s only two countries in question? Or should it be when NATO is fully involved, when young people might be sent to the front lines, and all of NATO’s allies are affected? Or should it be held back until such time as when Russia attacks U.S. territory itself?
“When they will occupy NATO countries, and also be on the borders of Poland and maybe fight with Poland, the question is: Will you send all your soldiers with weapons, all your pilots, all your ships? Will you send tanks and armored vehicles with your young people? Will you do it? Because if you will not do it, you will have no NATO.
So what will you do when Russia will use rockets to attack your allies, to [attack] civilian people? And what will you do when Russia, after that, if they do not see [opposition] from big countries like the United States? What will you do if they will use rockets on your territory?”
DeSantis appeared last week on Fox News, at which time he questioned America’s ongoing support for Ukraine, and opined that it shouldn’t be a priority. According to Politico, the governor faced backlash from other Republicans after he made those comments during an interview with Tucker Carlson. The response his party made was similar to Zelenskyy’s, stating that Eastern Europe and the rest of NATO would be at risk if Russia fully occupies the country. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu stated,
“If you let Russia start to come in and walk over Ukraine, you put all of Eastern Europe at risk. You put all of our NATO allies there at risk. And then when a NATO ally is now at risk, now you really risk having to put potential American troops on the ground, which nobody wants to see and shouldn’t happen.
“Sending $50 billion in aid to Ukraine is “a deal,” if it means not having to send troops to fight a war in Europe.”
What’s interesting about DeSantis’ comments is that there are people in the U.S. who continue to share ongoing support for Ukraine. Celebrities like Mark Hamill and Sean Penn have been vocal in encouraging ongoing American support. Meanwhile, Kevin Sorbo faced backlash after he used the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a joke while filing his taxes.