Republican 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis voiced opposition to Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during an interview on Saturday with conservative commentator Glenn Beck.
DeSantis, who currently serves as the governor of Florida, staked out his position on NATO membership for Ukraine, a key sticking point for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the Ukraine invasion in February 2022, during an appearance on The Glenn Beck Program podcast. NATO is a military alliance between Europe, the United States and Canada aimed at deterring potential attacks from adversaries.
The Russia-Ukraine war has divided the GOP presidential field, with some candidates pushing for the U.S. to stay out of the conflict, calling for reduced aid and suggesting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should be open to making concessions to Putin. Other candidates, however, have cast themselves as staunch supporters of Ukraine, pushing for continued aid aimed at preventing Putin from successfully seizing control of a sovereign nation.
"I don't think NATO membership is in our interest, to me," DeSantis told Beck. "All that would do was add more obligations to us, so if you're adding more obligations, then what are benefits that we're getting in return?"
He said that, if elected president, any aid he would provide would be "us using leverage to bring [the war] to a conclusion."
The U.S. has provided more than $76 billion in aid to Ukraine, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), but DeSantis argued that money would be better spent combatting the influence of China in the Indo-Pacific, which he views as more of a danger to Washington than the Russian threat to Europe.
"No blank check. Nothing to where we're just doing—we want to bring it to a conclusion. And whether we use any of our resources to do it or not, hopefully you wouldn't have to do that, but if you do, it's going to be contingent on bringing it to the conclusion that we want to see," he said.
DeSantis also questioned the "mission" of NATO, saying that member states of the alliance should be required to contribute more to combatting the influence of China.
"I think NATO was fine for the Cold War. It made sense. Now we're in a situation where a lot of those countries aren't doing their fare share in terms of their defenses, and yet we're supposed to provide blanket security for that, where our interests may diverge around the world," he said.
Newsweek reached out to the DeSantis campaign and Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment via email.
The Ukraine question has divided Republicans in the 2024 presidential field as they seek to carve out a different approach to the conflict from President Joe Biden, a staunch supporter of the Eastern European nation. Former President Donald Trump, who remains the frontrunner to win the GOP nomination, has expressed support for Ukraine aid, adding that he would be able to end the war in 24 hours.
Other candidates like businessman Vivek Ramaswamy have pushed for less U.S. involvement in the conflict.
Ukraine's potential NATO membership continues facing roadblocks, with even its most ardent supporters saying Kyiv needs to work on cleaning up corruption before it can join the alliance. In addition, Biden has rejected Ukraine's efforts for an expedited process to join.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
