• “Russia would definitely not have raided and attacked Ukraine if I was your President. In fact, for four years they didn’t attack, nor did they have any intention of doing so as long as I was in charge. But the sad fact is that, due to a new lack of respect for the U.S., caused at least partially by our incompetently handled pullout from Afghanistan. … Start by telling Europe that they must pay at least equal to what the U.S. is paying to help Ukraine. They must also pay us, retroactively, the difference. At a staggering 125 Billion Dollars, we are paying 4 to 5 times more, and this fight is far more important for Europe than it is for the U.S. Next, tell Ukraine that there will be little more money coming from us, UNLESS RUSSIA CONTINUES TO PROSECUTE THE WAR. The President must meet with each side, then both sides together, and quickly work out a deal. This can be easily done if conducted by the right President. … Properly executed, this terrible and tragic War, a War that never should have started in the first place, will come to a speedy end.” (Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• When asked: “Is opposing Russia in Ukraine a vital American national strategic interest?” “No, but it is for Europe. But not for the United States. That is why Europe should be paying far more than we are, or equal.” (Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “Our objective in Ukraine is to help and secure Europe, but Europe isn't helping itself. They are relying on the United States to largely do it for them. That is very unfair to us. Especially since Europe takes advantage of us on trade and other things.” (Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• When asked “What is the limit of funding and materiel you would be willing to send to the government of Ukraine?” “That would strongly depend on my meeting with President Putin and Russia. Russia would have never attacked Ukraine if I were President, not even a small chance. Would have never happened if I were President, but it has. I would have to see what the direction in which Russia is headed. I want them to stop, and they will, depending on the one that delivers that message. But with everything said, Europe must pay. The United States has spent much more than Europe, and that is not fair, just, or equitable. If I were President, that horrible war would end in 24 hours, or less. It can be done, and it must be done-- now!” (Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• When asked “Given that Russia’s economy and currency are stronger than before the war, do you believe that U.S. sanctions have been effective?” “No, they have not been effective. Just the opposite. They drove Russia, China and Iran into an unthinkable situation.” (Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “Every day this proxy battle in Ukraine continues, we risk global war. … We must be absolutely clear that our objective is to IMMEDIATELY have a total cessation of hostilities. All shooting has to stop. This is the central issue. We need PEACE without delay.” (Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign site, 03.16.23)
• "Our foreign policy establishment keeps trying to pull the world into conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia based on the lie that Russia represents our greatest threat. But the greatest threat to Western Civilization today is not Russia. It's probably, more than anything else, ourselves and some of the horrible, U.S.A. hating people that represent us. It's the abolition of our national borders. It’s the failure to police our own cities. It’s the destruction of the rule of law from within. It's the collapse of the nuclear family and fertility rates, like nobody can believe is happening. It's the Marxists who would have us become a Godless nation worshipping at the altar of race, and gender, and environment. And it's the globalist class that has made us totally dependent on China and other foreign countries that basically hate us. These globalists want to squander all of America's strength, blood and treasure, chasing monsters and phantoms overseas — while keeping us distracted from the havoc they're creating right here at home. These forces are doing more damage to America than Russia and China could ever have dreamed. Evicting the sick and corrupt establishment is the monumental task for the next president. And I'm the only one who can do it. I'm the only one that can get the job done. I know exactly what has to be done." (Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign site, 03.16.23)
• Trump characterized his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “amicable but stern.” He claims that, “Putin would have never gone into Ukraine. I used to talk to him about it—I said ‘better not do it.’ And he wouldn't have—we had a very friendly conversation about it: I said, 'Hey, Vladimir, you can't go into Ukraine.’" (Fox News, 03.28.23)
• Putin invaded Georgia when Bush was President. Putin invaded Crimea when Obama was President. Putin invaded Ukraine when Biden was President. When President Trump was in the White House, Putin knew better than to start a war on his watch. (Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign site, 05.10.23)
• “I want everybody to stop dying. They’re dying. Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. … And I’ll have that done in 24 hours.” (CNN, 05.11.23)
• Following President Joe Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, Trump condemned this decision. He shared in a lengthy statement that “Joe Biden should not be dragging us further toward World War III by sending cluster munitions to Ukraine—he should be trying to END the war and stop the horrific death and destruction being caused by an incompetent administration.” (NBC News, 07.11.23)
• When asked to explain how he would end the Russia-Ukraine war, Trump responded “I know Zelensky very well, and I know Putin very well, even better. And I had a good relationship, very good with both of them. I would tell Zelensky, no more. You got to make a deal. I would tell Putin, if you don't make a deal, we're going to give him a lot. We're going to [give Ukraine] more than they ever got if we have to. I will have the deal done in one day. One day." (Fox News, 07.16.23)
• When talking about President Biden, Trump said, “He’s supposed to be working. He’s supposed to be getting us out of that horrible, horrible war that we’re very much in involved with Russia and Ukraine. You could do that, you could do that very easily, I believe you could do that. I don’t believe he could do it, because he’s just incompetent, but that’s a war that should end immediately, not because of one side or the other, because hundreds of thousands of people are being killed. Can you imagine you’re in an apartment house and rockets are going into that building and blowing it up and knocking it down and… who can… why should anything, why should anybody, human beings, whether they’re Russians or Ukrainians or whatever they are, it’s gotta be stopped. And it can be stopped very easily. This would have never started if I were president. It would have never started.” (Tucker Carlson’s Twitter, 08.23.23)

Photo shared via Wikimedia Commons, under the Public Domain.  

• “Our city shows its support for Ukraine in two different ways. We’re going to be sending surplus stock equipment to increase their defensive capabilities.” Suarez also announced a voluntary citywide gun buyback program to benefit Ukraine. (SFBW, 06.10.22)
• “It doesn’t take a Harvard lawyer to see that the war in Ukraine is not a territorial dispute. It is a moral and geopolitical struggle between two visions of the world.” (National Review, 03.22.23)
• “You know, he’s [Biden] someone that has not had a coherent hemispheric strategy, hasn’t had a coherent global strategy. And what’s happened is our enemies are emboldened. That’s let’s be clear. Right. Putin, who has an ambition just like Xi Jinping, have their their lifelong goals and ambitions of how they view their country are using this as the best case opportunity for them to prosecute those ambitions. That’s why I believe that Putin made the decision to go into Ukraine. That’s why I’m sure every single day Xi Jinping is thinking about how he can take Taiwan, which would be a massively disruptive event for our country, because 90% of advanced microchips are being produced in Taiwan. And that impacts a tremendous amount of the consumer goods that we use on a daily basis.” (Fox News, 07.14.23)

Photo shared by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license. 

• "There is nothing smart about invading countries. Every single American should stand on the side of the freedom-loving, liberty-defending Ukrainians." (Axios, 03.02.22)
• “This happened in 2014 under President Obama and it's happening now under President Biden. … What this reflects and reinforces is the importance of strong American leadership on a global stage. … When we do not present ourselves strong, those leaders who want to present themselves as even stronger do so when we apparently have weaker leadership on the issues facing our nation and our country." (Axios, 03.02.22)
• ”By instigating a brutal war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin no doubt sought to elevate Russia’s global standing and weaken democracy’s hold over Europe. But thanks to the Ukrainian people’s defiance—and that of their president, Volodymyr Zelensky—those efforts have been met with a unified front that democracy and freedom for all are worth the battle. … This isn’t just a fight against one oppressive regime; it’s a fight for the heart of Europe and for the principles that America has always championed—democracy and freedom for all.” (Scott’s Senate website, 03.09.22)
• "Throughout the war in Ukraine, the Biden administration has led from behind — waiting too long to provide too little support. … With [ed: the latest] defense spending bill, Congress is stepping in to send a clear message to Vladimir Putin and dictators around the world that the United States will not tolerate their bullying and aggression. American strength at home and abroad is the only way to ensure security and freedom for our people today and generations to come." (Scott’s Senate website, 05.19.22)
• “You have Americans who are frustrated because of the lack of leadership on domestic issues that only exacerbates the situation we see today in Ukraine. Here's where we need the president to lead: what is our nation's vital interest in Ukraine? And it should start with degrading the Russian military is in our vital national interest. In addition to that, we are not going to simply degrade the Russian military. We are gonna have accountability for every single dollar spent. There is no such thing as a blank check. We are going to make sure that there's accountability. And the last point I'd make on the Ukraine front is that China has chosen a side. They are partnering, they are partnering with Putin, which means it's enmity with us. China is a risk that continues to rise, an adversarial position they have taken against the American people. We should hear what they're telling us. Believe them and act accordingly.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “President Biden has done a terrible job explaining and articulating to the American people what is America’s vital, national interest in Ukraine. From my perspective and from the American people’s perspective that answer is degrading the Russian military. The more we degrade the Russian military, the m-- less likely there is to be an attack on our sovereign territory. And it protects our NATO partners. I think that we should be in Ukraine. I believe that the truth is simple, that degrading the Russian military is in America’s best interest. … As president of the United States, I would clearly state America’s national, vital interest includes degrading the Russian military. Therefore our presence in Ukraine is actually essential for us—achieving that objective.” (NBC News, 05.22.23)

Photo shared via Wikimedia Commons, under the Public Domain.  

• Asked if opposing Russia in Ukraine is a vital U.S. interest: “No, it is not ‘vital.’ Rather, this is a stark reminder of what is a vital American national strategic interest: national energy independence. This war is a symptom of America’s lack of self-sufficiency. Putin is a tyrant and started this needless war, but he did so because we created incentives that tipped the balance of his decision-making in favor of invading: if he knows the West relies on him to provide oil and gas, then Putin is in a stronger position–and that led him to think he could win. The Biden Administration weakened our energy security, which created the conditions for Putin to invade Ukraine, which is of course an undesired outcome. Biden, in turn, responded by calling for more oil and gas production, pretty much everywhere in the world other than in the U.S. itself. The more America is reliant on foreign energy and oil, the less leverage we have with petrol dictators.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “The main thing should be the main thing: focus on China. China wants the Ukraine war to last as long as possible to deplete Western military capacity before invading Taiwan. It’s working: we think we appear stronger by helping Ukraine, but we actually become weaker vis-à-vis China.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “Our objective in Ukraine should be to respect any prior legal treaty commitments the U.S. has made, so as to preserve our credibility when it comes to commitments in the future, which I believe we have already fulfilled – and indeed gone beyond. … The Budapest Memorandum, signed by Russia, Ukraine, the U.S. and the U.K., was supposed to assure Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons, a massive stockpile, and received security protections–but not an alliance or pledge to go to war, just a commitment to respect the sovereignty of existing borders. Whether that was the right decision to make in 1994 is a point of reasonable debate, but it is in our long-term self interest to stick by our word. And we have. But now it’s time to move on.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “A key objective has already been achieved by revealing Russia to be a “paper tiger.” Russia’s military capabilities are far weaker than the U.S. defense establishment previously had assumed (their track record of being blatantly wrong about “intelligence” assessments only grows each year): recall how they predicted that Ukraine would fall within days–the same defense establishment who wrongly predicted that Kabul would not fall to the Taliban. Time to find a different term for our “intelligence experts.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “We’ve discovered a big problem on our end—the weakness of our industrial base. I’m disturbed by reports that our aid to Ukraine has drained away munitions and other material that we could potentially need for our own defense.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• "I do not think that’s a top foreign policy priority for us. I don't think it is preferable for Russia to be able to invade a sovereign country that is its neighbor. But ... I think the No. 1 threat to the U.S. military is right now, our top military threat, is the China-Russian alliance. I think that by fighting further in Russia, by further arming Ukraine, we are driving Russia into China's hands. … I don't trust Putin, but I do trust Putin to follow his self-interest." (ABC News, 06.04.23)
• Embraced what he acknowledges would be "major concessions" to Russia. Basically, his idea is to end military support for Ukraine and negotiate a peace deal. Under his proposed deal, Russia would agree to end its military alliance with China, withdraw nuclear weapons and systems from surrounding areas and rejoin the nonproliferation START accord. In exchange, the agreement would "cede most of the Donbas region" in eastern Ukraine to Russia, and it would end any efforts to have Ukraine join NATO. Ramaswamy has called this "a Korean War-style armistice agreement that codifies the current lines of control." (WP, 06.05.23)
• “@JoeBiden needs to man up to his bully-friend Zelensky & clearly state that we are dead-set opposed to Ukrainian admission to NATO. This should be a hard red line. It’s shameful that even Republicans like @LindseyGrahamSC are now pushing for it. Stop marching us to the brink of nuclear war… As President I’ll refuse to be bullied by an anti-democratic comedian-turned-leader & it’s truly mystifying to me that the rest of the West is eating out of this Pied Piper’s hand every day.” (Ramaswamy’s Twitter, 07.08.23)
• Implied that U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine is because of President Biden’s son. “The purpose of the U.S. military [is] to advance American interests, to protect the homeland. Not to aimlessly fight some random war that’s arguably a repayment for a private bribe that a family member of the United States received, $5 million from Burisma. … Was the payment to Hunter Biden corrupt? Absolutely it was. Do I think that it has some relationship towards our posture toward Ukraine? I think it’s likely that it does.” (NBC News, 08.06.23)
• “The fact that we're sending hundreds of billions to Ukraine without Biden even once articulating why it advances U.S. national interests reeks of corruption. It's now fair game to ask whether the geopolitical disaster known as Hunter Biden has something to do with it. The bipartisan establishment, from @GovChristie to @NRO to @MSNBC, is attacking me for even asking the question. But just think independently for a moment.” (Ramaswamy’s Twitter, 08.09.23)
• “We puff our chest to Russia & risk nuclear war while we cower in fear of China because we can’t fathom economic independence. The real answer to both is to disrupt the Sino-Russian alliance by ending the Ukraine War with a deal that pulls Putin away from Xi. That’s how we deter China from going after Taiwan while avoiding war. It’s stunning that *no one* in either party is even talking about it.” (Ramaswamy’s Twitter, 08.15.23)
• “I would not [support more aid for Ukraine], and I think that this is disastrous, that we are protecting against an invasion across somebody else’s border when we should use those same military resources to prevent against the invasion of our own southern border here in the United States of America. We are driving Russia further into China’s hands. The Russia-China alliance is the single greatest threat we face, and I find it offensive that we have professional politicians who will make a pilgrimage to Kyiv—to their pope, Zelensky—without doing the same thing for the people in Maui or the south side of Chicago or Kensington. I think we have to put the interests of Americans first, secure our own border instead of somebody else’s. And the reality is, this is also how we project strength, by making America strong at home.” (First GOP primary debate, Fox News, 08.23.23)
• “The reality is that today, Ukraine is not a priority for the United States of America, and I think that the same people who took us into the Iraq War, the same people who took us into the Vietnam War, you cannot start another no-win war. And I do not want to get to the point where we are sending our military resources abroad when we could be better using them here at home to protect our own borders, protect our homeland. That will be my top priority, protect this homeland.” (First GOP primary debate, Fox News, 08.23.23)

Photo shared by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license. 

• “When the United States supports Ukraine in their fight against Putin, we follow the Reagan doctrine, and we support those who fight our enemies on their shores, so we will not have to fight them ourselves. There is no room for Putin apologists in the Republican Party. This is not America’s war, but if Putin is not stopped and the sovereign nation of Ukraine is not restored quickly, he will continue to move toward our NATO allies, and America would then be called upon to send our own. Vladimir Putin has revealed his true nature, a dictator consumed [ed: with] conquest and willing to spend thousands of lives for his commitment to reestablish the Greater Russian Empire. Anyone who thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine’s border is not owning up to the reality of who Putin is. We need to be clear-eyed about the Russian threat: that Georgia, the Crimea, and Ukraine are merely at the top of Putin’s lists, they are not the only countries he’s aiming for. And by supporting Ukraine, we have told China we will support Taiwan, should they follow Russia in an attempt to invade.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• Asked to define the U.S. objective in Ukraine: “Victory for Ukraine, where Ukraine’s sovereignty and peace are restored as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the Biden administration slow walked aid to Ukraine, every response has been too slow from providing intelligence to Ukraine, to hammering Russia with sanctions, to providing military equipment and fighter jets to Ukraine. Ukraine’s victory should be an unmistakable, undeniable defeat for Russia and its allies.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “As a fiscal conservative, I do not believe in sending blank checks and want oversight of government spending at home and abroad. But withholding or reducing support will have consequences: If Putin is not stopped now and he moves into NATO-controlled territory, the cost will be far greater.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• Asked if he believes the U.S. faces the risk of nuclear war with Russia: “Putin is still ‘the small and bullying leader of Russia, his talk of nuclear war is a bullying tactic that he used at the start of the invasion. But Putin should know the United States will not be bullied. This administration has not led with strength on the world stage, but America is still a nation that believes peace comes through strength.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “The Russian economy is in free-fall. The Russian ruble is still afloat because of the extremely costly measures Russia has taken to keep their currency at pre-war levels in the face of sanctions. Russia is currently being propped up by China, and if China withdraws their support, Putin could run out of money by as soon as 2024; Russia is not in a strong economic position. This war is costing Russia their economy, their military prowess, their position on the world stage, and it’s costing lives.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• "The war in Ukraine is not a territorial dispute," he said to applause. "It is a Russian invasion and I believe the United States of America needs to continue to demand that the free world join us in giving the courageous fighters in Ukraine the resources that they need to repel the Russian invasion. It's not our war, but freedom is our fight." (WSJ, 03.20.23)
• He chided both Mr. Trump -- and, more obliquely, Mr. DeSantis -- for their postures toward Ukraine. “When Vladimir Putin rolled into Ukraine, the former president called him a genius,” Mr. Pence said. “I know the difference between a genius and a war criminal.'' Swiping at Mr. DeSantis, he said at another point, “I know that some in this debate have called the war in Ukraine a territorial dispute. It's not.” (NYT/CNN, 06.08.23)
• Became the first GOP candidate to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In announcing this meeting, Pence said, “I believe America’s the leader of the free world. But coming here just as a private citizen—being able to really see firsthand the heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers holding the line in those woods, see the heroism of the people here in Irpin that held back the Russian army, to see families whose homes were literally shelled in the midst of an unconscionable and unprovoked Russian invasion—just steels my resolve to do my part, to continue to call for strong American support for our Ukrainian friends and allies." (NBC News, 06.29.23)
• “With all due respect, I think the former president and the governor of Florida just don’t understand Americans’ national interest in supporting the Ukrainian military in repelling the Russian military in Ukraine.” (AP, 06.05.23)
• "I welcome the cluster munitions. I think it [the war] ends by giving the Ukrainians what they need to win." (NBC News, 07.10.23)
• “I think it [the war] ends by giving the Ukrainians what they need to win. I mean, there’s some talk, my former running mate likes to talk about solving it in a day. The only way you’d solve this war in a day is if you gave Vladimir Putin what he wanted.” (The Hill, 07.10.23)
• “I honestly believe that it’s important as the leader of the free world and the arsenal of democracy that America continue to provide the Ukrainians what they need to fight and win and repel that unprovoked Russian invasion. But the question of NATO membership—and I spoke about this with [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky—I think should all wait on after the war is won.” (CNN, 07.11.23)
• In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Pence and Carlson clashed over Pence’s support for U.S. involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war. Pence stated, “Anybody that says that we can’t be the leader of the free world and solve our problems at home has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on earth.” Pence also stated that he believes “that it is in the interests of the United States of America to continue to give the Ukrainian military the resources they need,” which elicited boos from the audience. (Forbes, 07.14.23)
• “It’s a Russian invasion, not a territorial dispute. Putin is a war criminal, not a genius.” (Washington Post, 07.19.23)
• “China is watching what is happening in Ukraine. And if the United States and other Western countries back off and give Putin what he wants, it’s going to hasten the day that China moves on Taiwan. The best way to discourage China in Taiwan is to give Ukraine what they need to drive out the Russian invasion.” (Pence’s Twitter, 08.05.23)
• “Anybody that thinks that we can’t solve the problems here in the United States and be the leader of the free world has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on Earth. We’ve done both.” (First GOP primary debate, Fox News, 08.23.23)
• “Vivek [Ramaswamy], if we do the giveaway that you want to do, to give him [Putin] his [annexed] land [in Ukraine], it’s not going to be too long before he rolls across a NATO border, and frankly our men and women of our armed forces are going to have to go and fight him. I want to let the Ukrainians fight and drive him and the Russians back out into Russia, so our troops don’t have to make that fight.” (First GOP primary debate, Fox News, 08.23.23)
• Specifically on Putin: “I’m sorry if I insulted him by calling him a communist. He is a dictator and a murder, and the United States of America needs to stand against authoritarianism.” (First GOP primary debate, Fox News, 08.23.23)

Photo shared via Wikimedia Commons, under the Public Domain.  

• "I do not trust Putin and by the way I think it is kind of ridiculous to be sending over 100 billion over to the Ukraine when we are going broke here.” (Perry Johnson’s YouTube channel, 03.24.23)
• “I strongly disagree with Vice President @Mike_Pence on Ukraine - I think it’s ridiculous to send $100 billion to Ukraine while we’re going broke right here in America. @JoeBiden’s policies are wreaking havoc on our federal budget and the wallets of hard working American families. My #TwoCents Plan is the only solution!” (Perry Johnson’s Twitter, 04.22.23)
• “I think what we ought to do is to say: ‘Look, guys in Europe, you are right next to Ukraine, you should at least match us in anything we do. It doesn’t make sense that we are sending all of our money over when they are right next to you. You are the ones threatened by the situation and I think we have to have a cooperative effort.’ It doesn’t seem to work out that way.” (Ourquadcities, 04.23.23)
• “I would not walk away from it [the Russian-Ukrainian war]. I think we do pay some attention to it. I think it takes a little bit of diplomatic admission [sic] there to recognize that we have to get Europe involved too.” (Ourquadcities, 04.23.23)

Photo shared by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license. 

• “I think that would be a mistake to withdraw funding for Ukraine in this extraordinary fight against Russia and Russia’s aggression against the sovereign territory of Ukraine,” he said. “I’m very much supportive of Ukraine. I believe they’re fighting a battle that helps reflect a free Europe,” he added. (The Hill, 10.19.22)
• "President Biden’s visit to the heart of Ukraine is a good moment for America as we show bipartisan support for those in Ukraine fighting for freedom, democracy & their very lives. The GOP must not waver in our support for those standing against oppression." (Asa Hutchinson’s Twitter account, 02.20.23)
• “We must not be near-sighted when it comes to offering assistance to the Ukrainian people in their conflict with Russia. Russia has proven time and time again that it is willing to unilaterally enter sovereign nations in order to expand its territorial reach. It happened in Crimea and it is now happening in Ukraine. If we stand by and let this nation falter, it leaves a hostile Russia on the doorstep of our NATO allies.” (Asa Hutchinson’s Twitter account, 02.21.23)
• “We cannot let the terms of our support of Ukraine depend upon the rules set by Russia or China. The United States should support the oppressed and not the oppressors Ukraine is fighting for its freedom, sovereignty, and survival. We should be leading and not shrinking in our support of the people of Ukraine. … By taking a supportive and public stand in Ukraine, we’re sending a message to Russia and to China that their aggressive posture towards other nation states is unacceptable.” (Asa Hutchinson’s Twitter account, 02.21.23)
• What Mr. DeSantis said about Ukraine [in a territorial dispute with Russia] was "naive." (McClatchy/The State, 03.15.23)
• Commenting on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021: “America looked weak, and that weakness was seen as an opportunity for Russia to invade Ukraine and then for China to threaten and be aggressive toward Taiwan. Let me assure you that as president, I will bring out the best of America. ... We will stand with our allies and friends. We will not abandon our friends in times of need.” (NBC News, 04.26.23)
• “Russia is a threat to our national security and a threat that must be taken seriously. As Undersecretary of Homeland Security, I have firsthand experience dealing with world leaders to keep America safe. We must be tough on Russia and that starts with not backing down from Putin.” (Asa Hutchinson's presidential campaign site, undated)

Photo shared by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license. 

• Said that the U.S. should provide Ukraine “as much weaponry as we can.” "When it comes to our foreign policy, we want our friends to love us and our adversaries to fear us. When you use that as a metric on looking at what's happening in Ukraine, our allies, President [Volodymyr] Zelensky, is asking us to do more. Our adversaries, our enemies, [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, is launching cruise missiles into the western part of Ukraine because he's not afraid that we're going to respond." (Business Insider, 03.27.22)
• "It's unfortunate the two leading Republican nominees for president, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, [their] policy on Ukraine is wrong. I wish they would stop fighting with American companies like Disney and be more interested in supporting our allies against attacks against democracy." (ABC News, 06.25.23)
• “Ukraine should be admitted to NATO the day fighting stops. It's common sense. They will continue to be an incredibly experienced and tough fighting force that all of NATO will benefit from.” (Will Hurd’s Twitter, 07.11.23)
• Hesitantly supported sending cluster munitions to Ukraine to help “kick the Russians out of their own country.” (NBC News, 07.12.23)

Photo shared via Wikimedia Commons, under the Public Domain.  

• "We need to have the back of Ukraine." (WSJ, 03.18.23)
• “You see Saudi Arabia making deals with China, that’s not good for us. We need them to be with us, and then we need to align with others, Russia, Australia, Japan, Israel. … We need to start focusing on the allies that we have besides the Europeans and make sure that we have more friends — one, for our needs, so that we’re not dependent on an enemy for energy or medicines or anything else, and then two, to make sure that we build those alliances so that the world is more safe.” (AP, 06.03.23) [2]
• “This is bigger than Ukraine. This is a war about freedom, and it’s one we have to win. … What we have to understand is that a win for Ukraine is a win for all of us, because tyrants tell us exactly what they’re going to do.” (The Hill/CNN, 06.04.23)
• China said they were going to take Hong Kong, they did it. Russia said they were going to invade Ukraine, we watched that happen. China says Taiwan’s next, we better believe them. Russia said Poland and the Baltics are next, if that happens, we are looking at a world war. This is about preventing war,” she continued. “Everybody wants to know well how does this war end? It would end in a day if Russia pulls out. If Ukraine pulled out, then we’re all looking at a world war.” (The Hill/CNN, 06.04.23)
• "For them to sit there and say that this is a territorial dispute—that's just not the case, or to say that we should stay neutral. It's in the best interest of our national security for Ukraine to win.” (Reuters, 06.04.23)
• Haley said helping Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression is in the U.S. national interest. "This is bigger than Ukraine," Haley said. "This is a war about freedom, and it's one we have to win." Haley called Russian President Vladimir Putin a tyrant and refuted claims the conflict is purely a territorial dispute . (CNN, 06.05.23)
• Following the attempted coup by Wagner forces, stated, “The events of this past weekend show how weak and shaky the Russian leadership is. Make no mistake: China is watching the war with Ukraine with great interest.” (ABC News, 06.27.23)
• “If you just look at NATO, and I know because I dealt with them at the United Nations, they can get weak in the knees and you have to stiffen their spine. I had to do it many times at the U.N. The key is there is no reason Ukraine should not be part of NATO.” (The Hill, 07.11.23)
• Expressed support for providing Ukraine with further aid. “First of all, the American president needs to have moral clarity. They need to know the difference between right and wrong, they need to know the difference between good and evil. When you look at the situation with Russia and Ukraine, here you have a pro-American country that was invaded by a thug. So when you want to talk about what has been given to Ukraine, less than 3.5% [of] our defense budget has been given to Ukraine. If you look at the percentages per GDP, 11 of the European countries have given more than the U.S. But what’s really important is go back to when China and Russia held hands, shook hands before the Olympics and named themselves unlimited partners. A win for Russia is a win for China, we have to know that. Ukraine is the first line of defense for us, and the problem that Vivek doesn’t understand is, he wants to hand Ukraine to Russia, he wants to let China eat Taiwan, he wants to go and stop funding Israel. You don’t do that to friends. What you do instead is you have the backs of your friends. Ukraine is the front line of defense. Putin has said, once Russia takes Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. That’s a world war, we’re trying to prevent war. Look at what Putin did today—he killed Prigozhin. When I was at the U.N., the Russian ambassador suddenly died. This guy is a murderer, and you are choosing a murderer over a pro-American country.” (First GOP primary debate, Fox News, 08.23.23)

Photo shared via Wikimedia Commons, under the Public Domain.

• “[C]learly much of the American news coverage underestimated both the totalitarian appetite of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the grit and determination of the outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian people, a resolve against Putin's designs that has inspired the West and caused Europe to rethink its dependence on Russian energy. ... More could have and should have been done by President Joe Biden and our European allies to prevent this invasion. Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan caused China, Iran and North Korea to perceive Biden as weak. During 2021, America, according to the Energy Information Administration, imported a monthly average of 670,000 barrels per day of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia, smashing the previous record set in 2011. But the world is awakening. Will Putin get the message?” (Creators Syndicate, 03.03.22)
• “When in 2014, Putin invaded and annexed Crimea, Ukraine, he faced little resistance and suffered no real consequences. On Feb. 24, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, most of the 30 NATO member states spend less than the targeted 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, while many European nations, most notably Germany, grow more dependent than ever on Russia for their energy. In the span of little more than a year, America, under the Biden administration, has gone from the historic shift of achieving energy independence in 2020 (exporting more petroleum products than importing) to importing a record amount of oil and petroleum products from Russia in 2021. ... After World War II, Churchill said, ‘There was never a war in all history easier to prevent by timely action.’ Now, with the possibility of war between nuclear powers, the stakes are even higher.” (The Tribune Democrat, 03.14.22)
• "In three weeks, Russia has reportedly lost more troops in Ukraine than America did in Iraq and Afghanistan combined in 20 years. Yet Iraq and Afghanistan are routinely called mistaken misadventures in "nation building" that we were goaded into by "neocons." A 2021 AP-NORC poll found that 62% of Americans say the war in Afghanistan was "not worth fighting," and 63% say the same thing about the war in Iraq. American public opinion initially supports war, even the Vietnam War. But approval morphs into not only opposition, but into questioning the ‘true motive’ for engaging in war. Given this history, Biden's reluctance to ‘do more’ for Ukraine becomes understandable." (The Northern Virginia Daily, 03.26.22)
• “I’m asking people, no matter what their race is, to vote for me for the reasons I mentioned — inflation, crime, the borders, gas prices, the way that Biden pulled out of Afghanistan, which I think inspired Putin to invade Ukraine. He’s been a disaster on every level.” (LA Focus, 06.03.23)
• “Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if it weren't for Joe Biden's disastrous handling of the situation in Afghanistan. His failure emboldened our enemies around the globe.” (Larry Elder’s Twitter, 06.25.23)

Photo shared via Wikimedia Commons, under the Public Domain.

• “While the U.S. has many vital national interests – securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party – becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them. The Biden administration’s virtual “blank check” funding of this conflict for “as long as it takes,” without any defined objectives or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges.” (Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “Without question, peace should be the objective. The U.S. should not provide assistance that could require the deployment of American troops or enable Ukraine to engage in offensive operations beyond its borders. F-16s and long-range missiles should therefore be off the table. These moves would risk explicitly drawing the United States into the conflict and drawing us closer to a hot war between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. That risk is unacceptable.” (Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “Our citizens are also entitled to know how the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being utilized in Ukraine.  We cannot prioritize intervention in an escalating foreign war over the defense of our own homeland, especially as tens of thousands of Americans are dying every year from narcotics smuggled across our open border and our weapons arsenals critical for our own security are rapidly being depleted." (Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• “I think he is a war criminal,” Mr. DeSantis said of Mr. Putin, for whom the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant related to war crimes. “I don’t know about that route,” he said of the arrest warrant, “but I do think that he should be held accountable.” (NYT, 03.22.23)
• "I think he’s got grand ambitions," he said, "I think he’s hostile to the United States, but I think the thing that we’ve seen is he doesn’t have the conventional capability to realize his ambitions. And so, he’s basically a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons and one of the things we could be doing better is utilizing our own energy resources in the US." (Fox News, 03.22.23)
• Reportedly walking back his aforementioned categorization of the conflict as a “territorial dispute,” DeSantis said: “What I’m referring to is where the fighting is going on now, which is that eastern border region Donbas, and then Crimea, and you have a situation where Russia has had that. I don’t think legitimately, but they had… There’s a lot of ethnic Russians there. So, that’s some difficult fighting, and that’s what I was referring to, and so it wasn’t that I thought Russia had a right to that, and so if I should have made that more clear, I could have done it.” (AP, 03.23.23)
• He warned of a protracted war as Ukraine prepares for a spring offensive. "You don't want to end up in like a [Battle of] Verdun situation, where you just have mass casualties, mass expense and end up with a stalemate." he said, referring to the longest battle of World War I. "It's in everybody's interest to try to get to a place where we can have a cease-fire." (Nikkei Asia, 04.25.23)
• “In terms of what’s going on over in eastern Europe, you know, I’d like to see a settlement of this. I do not want to see a wider war. I think it’s completely unknowable what it will look like in January of 2025. But I would not want to see the United States with our troops get enmeshed in a war in Russia or in Ukraine,” (Fox News/Florida Politics, 05.25.23)
• Called the war in Ukraine ​​a “secondary or tertiary interest,” though he said he would be “willing to be helpful to bring it to a conclusion.” “The goal should be a sustainable, enduring peace in Europe, but one that does not reward aggression.” (CNN, 07.18.23)

• Said he would not support additional aid to Ukraine. “I will have Europe pull their weight. And now they’re not doing it. And I think our support should be contingent on them doing it, and I would have support in China to be able to take China and do what we need to do with China.” (First GOP primary debate, Fox News, 08.23.23)
• “As President of the United States, your first obligation is to protect our country and its people. And that means, you’re sending all this money but you’re not doing what we need to do to secure our own border. … I’m not going to send troops to Ukraine, but I am going to send them to our southern border.” (First GOP primary debate, Fox News, 08.23.2

Photo shared via Wikimedia Commons, under the Public Domain.

• Christie launched into former President Trump with dismay over his comments describing Vladimir Putin as 'very savvy' and a 'genius.' Christie wrote on Twitter: 'How can anyone with any understanding of the world call Putin's decision to invade Ukraine ‘genius’ and ‘very savvy’ as we watch him unite the rest of the world against Russia in nearly an instant?' (Mail Online, 02.28.22)
• “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is a national security issue that threatens our alliances and our standing in the world. Our objective is to assist Ukraine sufficiently to enable them to defeat Russian forces and restore their sovereignty. This effort is not about regime change in Russia; it is about respecting the sovereignty of free nations. Also, this is a proxy war being waged by Russia’s ally China against the United States. Due to their assistance to Russia and China’s recent action in the Middle East, it would be naive to call this anything but Chinese aggression. Our allies and our enemies are watching us. It is on us to assist our democratic allies in defending themselves against authoritarian aggression. If we do not, this aggression will spread and the void we leave will be filled by authoritarian regimes like China, Iran, North Korea and an empowered Russia if they triumph over Ukraine.” (Tucker Carlson's Twitter account, 03.13.23)
• "[DeSantis] sounds like Neville Chamberlain talking about when Germany had designs on Czechoslovakia," Christie told Axios. "I don't think that's what America stands for … For anyone who's considering running for president to fundamentally misunderstand that or to be cynical enough to change their views in order to please any particular constituency is very concerning." (Axios, 03.14.23)
• When asked about the Biden administration’s response to the war in Ukraine, Christie criticized the United States’ relations with Russia throughout the last two decades. “To look at it just as a Biden administration technique is to not really understand the nature of the crisis,” he said. “This crisis, in my view, really started in 2008 when President Bush, 43, took a rather passive approach to Vladimir Putin’s entry into Georgia.” Christie added he believes former President Barack Obama also did not adequately react to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, setting a precedent that failed to deter Putin from invading Ukraine. (Harvard Crimson, 03.22.23)
• Said he thinks pressuring Russia to completely withdraw from Ukraine would be “an impossible task” and called for the United States to follow the lead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in any future negotiations. “I think we should be guided in large measure by what Zelenskyy is willing to accept,” Christie said. “And if Zelenskyy is willing to accept something that doesn’t morally offend us, we should be willing to back them up.” (Harvard Crimson, 03.22.23)
• “Donald Trump says he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours tonight on CNN. Despite how ridiculous that is to say, I suspect he would try to do it by turning Ukraine over to Putin and Russia. #Putin’s Puppet. “(Chris Christie’s Twitter account, 05.10.23)
• “I want them to have every weapon they need to be able to win. And this is a proxy war, not just against Russia … but as you know, it’s a proxy war against China. China is funding this Russian war through their purchase of Russian oil. They are coordinating with Iran to provide deadly weapons to the Russian army. And they are watching what we’re going to do.” (The Hill, 07.13.23)
• Became the second GOP candidate to meet with Zelensky. After visiting Kyiv: “You feel the cruelty, and you feel the inhumanity. You look at this, and I don’t think there’s anyone in our country who would come here and see this and not feel as if these are the things that America needs to stand up to prevent.” (NYT, 08.04.23)
• “It was an honor to meet with President @ZelenskyyUa in Ukraine and see firsthand the heroism Ukrainians have displayed in their fight against Russia. America has never moved forward by ignoring the rest of the world. We can’t start now.” (Chris Christie’s Twitter, 08.04.23)
• “The truth is that years of failed leadership are responsible for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s reign of terror in Eastern Europe. And it's only going to get worse. He took Crimea under Barack Obama, buddied up to Donald Trump and knows that Joe Biden can't stop him from committing countless war crimes in Ukraine.” (USA Today, 08.08.23)
• “Torturing, murdering, raping civilians and stealing their children. These are the atrocities that Putin is conducting in Ukraine. Donald Trump says Putin is brilliant and a great leader. If that’s brilliant leadership, you can keep it.” (Chris Christie’s Twitter, 08.09.23)
• “I cannot understand what Governor DeSantis’s position is on Ukraine. Vivek is Trump’s wingman. There’s no substance to what Vivek Ramaswamy is saying on this issue.” (Washington Post, 08.11.23)
• “The war in Ukraine is not a territorial dispute. Rolling tanks & troops into a free country while murdering thousands of civilians is an authoritarian act that we have to oppose. I refuse to put my head in the sand. Either we lead, or China & Russia lead. Not a hard decision.” (Chris Christie’s Twitter, 08.14.23)

• “I did go to Ukraine, and I went to Ukraine because I wanted to see for myself what Vladimir Putin’s army was doing to the free Ukrainian people.” Upon going into further detail on the crimes he learned about, he added, “This is the Vladimir Putin who Donald Trump called brilliant and a genius. If we don’t stand up against this type of autocratic killing, we will be next.” (First GOP primary debate, Fox News, 08.23.23)

Photo shared by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license. 

• "We support and pray for the Ukrainian people as they defend themselves against these brazen acts of aggression by Russia and President Putin, which we condemn in the strongest terms possible. The United States and its allies must stand together in support of Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks. This international crisis underscores the importance of U.S. energy security and increasing American production so we can sell energy to our friends and allies versus buying it from our enemies. Our thoughts also are with those of Ukrainian heritage here in North Dakota who are concerned for the safety of their relatives as their homeland is under siege, as well as those North Dakota farmers and businesses with interests in Ukraine." (ND.gov, 02.24.22)
• "North Dakota joins the international community in condemning this violence and the threats to innocent civilians in Ukraine and stands in support of the citizens of Ukraine and their sovereignty.” (Governor.nd.gov, 03.02.22)
• “All North Dakotans are standing in solidarity with you and your country.” (Phone call with Serhiy Koledov, consul general of Ukraine in Chicago, US Fed News, 03.08.22)
• “When we empower American innovation and energy production, we strengthen the value of the dollar, stop China and Iran and prevent wars such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” (WSJ, 06.06.23)
• "Relative to the Ukraine, I think that folks are right to be concerned that we got to make sure that we got accountability on every dollar that we spend. Essentially we are in a proxy war with Russia. We're doing everything but sending our own troops over there, but yeah we're in a battle, and one thing I'd say for sure we've to make sure this isn't a win for Putin.” (WDAY, 06.16.23)
• “We should be fighting to unite the country against our common enemies like China and Putin.” (Doug Burgum’s campaign site, undated)

Photo shared via Wikimedia Commons, under the Public Domain.

• Binkley said he believes it is important not to be indifferent to the war between the two nations. However, he stressed that there is a budgetary problem to be solved in terms of the amount of aid being given to Ukraine by the Biden administration. The candidate explained that in this conflict it is essential to send Russia the message that "we respect your borders" and to solve the problem with diplomacy while supporting freedom. (Voz Media, 04.25.23)
• “It’s a mistake to give unlimited funds to Ukraine. I think we need to be able to stand with Ukraine, but also start leading the movement now to make NATO pay more and also bring a quick resolution to this war.” (Des Moines Register, 08.12.23)
• Asked if he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin could negotiate in good faith: "To end the war, it’s going to take everybody walking away feeling like you know what, there’s some portion of this thing where they can go back to their people and say they were successful. I’ve been involved in over 1,400 mergers and acquisitions of businesses. It’s no different.” (Des Moines Register, 08.12.23)
• There are ways for Russia to feel secure in its borders and be presented with a path back into the international community, such as for "sanctions to be removed over time so they can have a pathway of success." (Des Moines Register, 08.12.23)
• "Across the globe, the enemies of freedom are flexing their power. Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine, China’s increasingly aggressive imperialism and the continued provocations from North Korea demonstrate the fragile state of our national security. The way to freedom is an America that is proud and secure in its place in the world, unflinching in the face of tyranny, slow to anger, quick to aid its allies but always willing to extend the hand of diplomacy to anyone who will take it in good faith. Peace will always be our goal, but never at the cost of our liberty, independence or sovereignty." (Binkley2024.com, undated)
• Among the foreign policy goals listed on his website: "Hold aggressors like Russia accountable for their actions." (Binkley2024.com, undated)

Photo obtained from press service section of Binkley's presidential campaign site.