War in Ukraine ‘distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges,’ DeSantis says

Though DeSantis acknowledged that “peace should be the objective,” he warned that sending in troops, or advanced weapons like F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles, “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.”

His remarks come as Russia prepares to launch its highly telegraphed spring offensive into Ukrainian territory. Publicly, some GOP members of Congress have become split over the issue of the United States’ continued support for Ukraine, particularly the expense of supporting Ukraine against the Russian invaders.

DeSantis’ remarks put him generally in line with former President Donald Trump on the issue, who has said that defending the country from Russia is not a vital U.S. interest, but is vital for Europe.

In his statement, DeSantis emphasized the importance of prioritizing U.S. defense, particularly at the southern border.

“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,” he said.