WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Mike Pence rebuked former President Donald Trump on Monday for his campaign trail assertions that he could end the Ukraine war within 24 hours, asserting that such a feat would only be possible if the US capitulated to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands.
Speaking to Fox News, Pence criticized his former running mate and current rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, stating, “My former running mate likes to talk about solving it in a day. The only way you would solve this war in a day is if you gave Vladimir Putin what he wanted.”
The rupture in their relationship occurred after Pence, 64, refused Trump’s demand to reject the 2020 election results in key states on January 6, 2021.
Pence, who recently became the first GOP candidate to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, emphasized that rushing into a peace agreement with Russia would jeopardize US national security and potentially escalate the conflict into a full-scale war.
“I’ve met Vladimir Putin, I’ve looked him right in the eye,” Pence stated. “If Vladimir Putin overruns Ukraine – if he simply wears down the United States and the West – I have no doubt in my mind that he’s going to cross a border, maybe into Lithuania itself, or Estonia or Latvia or the countries in the Baltics.”
He added, “And those would be countries where we’d have to send our armed forces to go and fight under our NATO Treaty.”
Pence highlighted the importance of the NATO security alliance, which Trump reportedly considered withdrawing from during his presidency. According to Article 5 of the alliance, if one member country is attacked, the others will come to its aid. This provision has only been invoked once, after the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001.
When asked what he would say to Trump about the war during a debate, Pence stated that he would continue to provide the Ukrainian military with the necessary support to achieve victory and bring an end to the conflict.
“I would say, ‘Look, the reason why Russia did not even attempt to redraw international lines by force during our administration is because we were strong,'” Pence asserted. “I think it’s in the interest of our country to give them what they need to stop them there, repel them there.”
While President Biden, 80, has provided Ukraine with over $42 billion worth of military aid packages since taking office, with most delivered after Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Pence criticized the White House for not acting swiftly enough to supply critical weapons systems.
“There’s only one pathway towards success here, and that is to give the Ukrainian military – much more quickly than Joe Biden has done – what they need to repel the Russian invasion and reclaim their country,” Pence remarked.
Pence also faulted Biden for failing to sufficiently explain to the American people “what our national interest is in Ukraine.”
“Joe Biden has not been leading in the way the American people want him to lead,” Pence concluded. “He gives these gauzy speeches about democracy, but look – our interest there is to give the Ukrainian military the means to repel Russian aggression. Make no mistake about it, I think this is the most effective way to send a message to China that America and the West will not tolerate military aggression by Russia or by China to redraw international lines.”
Source: With Agencies