Florida governor and presumed 2024 hopeful Ron DeSantis has come under fire from several high-profile Republicans and Democrats after he commented on the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Responding to a question from Tucker Carlson about his stance on the issue, DeSantis broke with the establishment GOP, expressing his view that the United States should not get further involved in the territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine, stating:

"While the U.S. has many vital national interests … becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them."

DeSantis further added that the US should refrain from engaging in any offensive operations that would involve the deployment of American troops. He also stressed that America should not provide assistance that would "enable Ukraine to engage in offensive operations beyond its borders," calling F-16s and long-range missiles "off the table."

The Sunshine State governor also insisted that American citizens deserve transparency regarding how their taxpayer money has been utilized in Ukraine.

These remarks have caused uproar among many establishment Republicans who wholeheartedly support Ukraine and its fight to fend off Russian aggression.

Those in the GOP who have expressed concerns about DeSantis' stand include former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. Cheney, an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump (whose Ukraine views are well-known to be similar to DeSantis's), said the Florida governor's views are "wrong and [he] seems to have forgotten the lessons of Ronald Reagan."

Sen. Graham, for his part, said he "could not disagree more" with DeSantis's position, making a comparison between DeSantis and former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who attempted to appease Adolf Hitler. "The Neville Chamberlain approach to aggression never ends well," said Graham. "This is an attempt by Putin to rewrite the map of Europe by force of arms."

Here are DeSantis's full comments outlining his position on Ukraine:

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.

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.

A policy of "regime change" in Russia (no doubt popular among the DC foreign policy interventionists) would greatly increase the stakes of the conflict, making the use of nuclear weapons more likely. Such a policy would neither stop the death and destruction of the war, nor produce a pro-American, Madisonian constitutionalist in the Kremlin. History indicates that Putin's successor, in this hypothetical, would likely be even more ruthless. The costs to achieve such a dubious outcome could become astronomical.

The Biden administration's policies have driven Russia into a de facto alliance with China. Because China has not and will not abide by the embargo, Russia has increased its foreign revenues while China benefits from cheaper fuel. Coupled with his intentional depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and support for the Left's Green New Deal, Biden has further empowered Russia's energy-dominated economy and Putin's war machine at Americans' expense.

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.

The Biden administration has provided massive aid packages to Ukraine, which have been met with rising skepticism by Americans. The proportion of Americans supporting aid to Ukraine fell from 60% in May 2022 to 48% currently, according to the AP, while those who say that the United States has given too much to Ukraine has increased from 7% in March 2022 to 26% currently, according to Pew.

The US leads the rest of the world with $196 billion given to Ukraine for its efforts against Russia through November 2022.