Former Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced go to to Ukraine on Thursday, a detour from the presidential marketing campaign path that was meant to spotlight his unwavering help for the nation because it battles Russia and to distinction it with the views of two key Republican rivals: Donald J. Trump and Ron DeSantis.
Both Mr. Trump, the previous president, and Mr. DeSantis, the Florida governor, have criticized U.S. involvement within the protection of Ukraine. The United States has supplied greater than $40 billion in navy and humanitarian help.
During his 12-hour keep, with an NBC News crew accompanying him, Mr. Pence met with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and toured a mass burial web site, putting flowers at a memorial, in keeping with an adviser.
For greater than 16 months, Ukraine has been combating to repel the Russian invasion, in a battle that has claimed the lives of tons of of 1000’s of civilians and troopers.
“Look, the war here in Ukraine is not our war, but freedom is our fight,” Mr. Pence instructed NBC News. He is the primary Republican candidate to go to Ukraine in the course of the 2024 marketing campaign. President Biden was in Kyiv in February.
In his nightly tackle to his nation, Mr. Zelensky thanked Mr. Pence for his help and mentioned that American help for Ukraine was very important.
Mr. Pence added to NBC News, “I think we’re advancing not only the interests of freedom, but let me be clear, my other message is we’re advancing our national interest.”
The present of solidarity by Mr. Pence, who was Mr. Trump’s vice chairman, contrasted sharply with the G.O.P.’s prime tier of presidential candidates.
During a Act Daily News city corridor in May, Mr. Trump, the Republican front-runner, refused to say whether or not he needed Ukraine to win the battle.
He additionally wouldn’t name President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a battle prison, saying that doing so would make it harder to finish the hostilities. Mr. Trump did say Mr. Putin had “made a bad mistake” by invading Ukraine.
Mr. DeSantis, a former House member, has aligned himself extra carefully with Mr. Trump on U.S. help for Ukraine.
In a press release to Fox News in March earlier than formally getting into the race, Mr. DeSantis mentioned that defending Ukraine’s borders was not a significant U.S. curiosity and that policymakers ought to as an alternative focus consideration at dwelling. He was responding to a questionnaire from Tucker Carlson, the conservative commentator who was later fired by the community.
At that point, Mr. DeSantis was criticized by some hawks within the G.O.P. for describing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute.” In an try and make clear his remarks, he later referred to as Mr. Putin a “war criminal” who must be “held accountable.”
Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and James C. McKinley Jr. contributed reporting.
Source: www.nytimes.com