Ukraine invites Ron DeSantis after Florida governor calls war with Russia ‘territorial dispute’

The prospective presidential candidate has said that supporting Ukraine is not in the ‘national interest’

The spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs invited Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to visit the country after the prospective presidential candidate labeled its war against Russia a “territorial dispute”.

Oleg Nikolenko tweeted the invitation after Mr DeSantis had sent his response to Fox News host Tucker Carlson and called upon the governor’s service in the US Navy.

“We are sure that as a former military officer deployed to a combat zone, Governor @RonDeSantisFL knows the difference between a ‘dispute’ and war. We invite him to visit Ukraine to get a deeper understanding of Russia’s full-scale invasion and the threats it poses to US interests,” he said.

Mr DeSantis is widely expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president later this year. He is currently traveling the country to promote his book The Courage to be Free.

As part of this tease, Mr DeSantis responded to a questionnaire from Mr Carlson, the popular Fox News host.

“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,” he said.

Many Republicans and conservative media figures have criticised US support for Ukraine, with Mr Carlson being one of the primary opponents of US support. Many have contrasted US support for Ukraine with incoming immigration from the US-Mexico border.

Mr DeSantis’s remarks also came as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy declined an offer from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit the country, saying, “I don’t have to go to Ukraine to understand where there’s a blank check or not.”

Democrats in response have criticised Mr DeSantis’s remarks. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave a speech on the Senate floor that blasted Mr DeSantis’s words.

“He basically thinks the U.S. is wrong to support Ukraine as they fight and die to protect their democracy,” Mr Schumer said. “And he’s certainly not alone in thinking that in the hard right. I have to wonder what he would have thought if he was around in the 1930s. We know that happened then, when many refused to stand up to aggression. A world war resulted.”