if Vladimir Putin watched the debate of the candidates of the Republican Party for the Presidency of the USA on the night of Wednesday (23), he would have found one more reason to sink even deeper into a long war with Ukraine.
The fierce rhetorical clashes over the conflict laid bare the growing divide in the GOP (as the party is known) between Donald Trump’s “America First” slogan and the internationalism that was one of the hallmarks of Republican President Ronald Reagan and today. it is getting darker.
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The plans shown there can have profound implications for the efforts of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to expel Russian forces from Ukraine, as pre-candidates contested multibillion-dollar US aid.
if President Joe Biden win facing re-election next year, he is unlikely to leave Ukraine — though growing skepticism among American voters about his government’s largess could make it harder to pass massive aid packages through Congress.
However, if Trump, or another like-minded Republican, wins the presidency, the US could diminish its role as a leader of the West as a supporter in Ukraine’s struggle for survival.
In conjunction with the slower-than-expected Ukrainian offensive, this view could also change the geopolitical dynamics brought about by the war. It could also increase external pressure on Zelensky and among wavering European states for a deal while Biden is still in the White House.
But Putin’s calculations could be shaped by the possibility of a new US president who is not committed to war.
While Trump did not attend the debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday — he said he was too far ahead in the party’s primary for participation to be worth his time — the populist, transactional foreign policy transformation he unleashed on the party was on stage.
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy acted as a stunt double for Trump, demonstrating deep skepticism about the war among the GOP’s grassroots voters.
“Ukraine is not a priority for the United States of America,” said Ramaswamy. “And I think the same people who got us into the Iraq War, the same people who got us into the Vietnam War (…) you can’t, you can’t start another war that you can’t win. I don’t want to get to the point of sending our military resources abroad when we could better use them here at home to protect our own borders.”
Ramaswamy may not be ready to win the GOP nomination, but he represents a weakness in Republican thinking — something best symbolized by Trump himself, who has improbably vowed to end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected. The only way to do that would be to force Ukraine to fully capitulate to Putin’s demands.
The problem for Ukraine is that the 2024 GOP candidates who are most supportive of continued US aid — namely, vehemently opposing the views expressed by Ramaswamy, which are also increasingly shared by the GOP-led House — have a slim chance of winning the nomination.
Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, who recently returned from Ukraine, warned: “This is Vladimir Putin, the one that Donald Trump called brilliant and a genius. If we don’t stand up against this kind of autocratic murder in the world, we will be next.”
Meanwhile, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley made an impassioned defense of supporting Ukraine — rejecting the idea, which many Republicans now echo, that the war is a distraction from a broader, more complex geopolitical conflict. threatening with China.
“The American president needs to have moral clarity. When we look at the situation with Russia and Ukraine, we see a pro-American country that was invaded by a bandit”, said the former governor of South Carolina. “So, if we are going to talk about what was given to Ukraine, the fact is that less than 3.5% of our defense budget has been given to Ukraine,” he added. (Haley’s number was slightly below the actual 5% share of the US defense budget, found the fact-checking team of the CNN .)
“A win for Russia is a win for China. We know that. Ukraine is the first line of defense for us,” she continued.
Like Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence called for continued support for Ukraine, expressing sentiments from a party that won the Cold War but now contains an influential faction that mirrors Trump’s support for Putin, a former lieutenant colonel. in the KGB.
Pence tried to explain to the 38-year-old Ramaswamy, whom he called a “newbie,” that the United States could not afford to risk the Oval Office of the White House. “If we give Putin the right to seize territory, it won’t be long before he crosses a border with NATO. And frankly, our men and women in our armed forces are going to have to fight him,” Pence said.
The closest Republican candidate to Trump in most polls is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who caused a stir earlier this year by referring to the war in Ukraine (precipitated by an illegal invasion of a sovereign country) as a territorial dispute. In the debate, DeSantis seemed eager to get credit for his skepticism about the war while trying to avoid further questions about his suitability to serve as the nation’s commander in chief.
“As President of the United States, your first obligation is to defend our country and its people,” said DeSantis. “So, all this money is being sent, but not enough is being done to protect our own border.”
DeSantis also said it would require greater efforts by European powers to save Ukraine. The Florida governor added: “I will not send troops into Ukraine, but I will send them to our southern border.” DeSantis’s comment was naive, because no one – not even Ukraine’s strongest US supporters – advocates sending US troops into the war as doing so would cause a direct confrontation with Russia that could escalate into a Third World War. World War.
The debate highlighted one of the tragedies of the war over Ukraine. As difficult and heroic as his people’s struggle is, he depends on the US and its allies for the weapons needed to repel the invasion of Russia. Ukrainians cannot control what Putin does, which means his fate will also be voted on in the US in 2024.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
