WASHINGTON \u2014 As a junior U.S. congressman from Florida in 2014, Ron DeSantis accused Moscow of \u201cviolating Ukrainian sovereignty,\u201d accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of creating a \u201cpretext\u201d to invade its neighbor, and sought assurances from the Obama administration that the United States would stand by its NATO allies.<\/p>\n
In contrast, DeSantis now calls Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine a \u201cterritorial dispute\u201d that is not core to U.S. interests, a position he made clear earlier this week in a statement to a Fox News host.<\/p>\n
DeSantis\u2019 apparent policy reversal comes amid a debate within the Republican Party over whether the United States should continue supporting Ukraine and the NATO alliance \u2014 the foundation of security in Europe since the end of World War II \u2014 that began when former President Donald Trump in 2016 openly questioned U.S. commitments to European defense.<\/p>\n
Russian forces invaded and occupied the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, and supported a separatist movement that year in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine that preceded Putin\u2019s full-scale invasion of the country last year.<\/p>\n
In a May 2014 congressional hearing, DeSantis pressed Victoria Nuland, then a senior diplomat in the Obama administration, on whether the White House was assuring NATO allies that the U.S. would \u201cclearly\u201d invoke Article 5 of the NATO charter \u2014 which states that an attack on one member nation is an attack on all \u2013 in the event that Putin were to strike the alliance.<\/p>\n
DeSantis asked Nuland whether the administration had assessed \u201cthat the actions of Russia may require us to relook at our force posture in Europe, and our requirements for future deployments, exercises and training in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn light of what has happened with Ukraine, Putin has taken this position that well, look, all these people are Russians \u2014 I am actually saving them by violating Ukrainian sovereignty,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cAnd that same argument could obviously be applied to Latvia, Estonia, and some of our NATO allies, because they have ethnic Russian populations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that kind of pretext were used in some place like Latvia,\u201d he continued, \u201cthe administration\u2019s position would be that Article 5 of NATO would, clearly, be invoked?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely. We have a solemn treaty commitment to our NATO allies,\u201d Nuland said.<\/p>\n
DeSantis replied that NATO allies such as Latvia seemed to be in doubt that Obama would stand by U.S. commitments to Article 5, fueling fears in eastern Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though we have assured them that we stand shoulder to shoulder, there is a lot of fear about what would happen and whether we would be willing, if push came to shove, to actually stand with them,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n
Previously reported comments from DeSantis\u2019 tenure as a congressman show that he pushed the Obama administration to provide weapons to the Ukrainians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe in the Congress have been urging the president, I\u2019ve been, to provide arms to Ukraine. They want to fight their good fight. They\u2019re not asking us to fight it for them. And the president has steadfastly refused. And I think that that\u2019s a mistake,\u201d DeSantis said in 2015.<\/p>\n