The Washington Post-Candidates differences on Ukraine reflect stark divide within GOP
September 28, 2023 4 min 759 words
在第二次共和党总统初选辩论中，关于乌克兰问题的分歧愈加显著，反映了共和党内部的鲜明对立。候选人们争论是否继续支持乌克兰抵抗俄罗斯入侵。佛罗里达州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯此前因将俄罗斯入侵乌克兰称为“领土争端”而受到广泛批评，但他在辩论中承诺结束战争，却没有具体说明如何实现。 德桑蒂斯的立场遭到前联合国大使尼基·黑莉批评，黑莉表示战争从未是领土争端，同时，来自南卡罗来纳州的参议员蒂姆·斯科特则提出继续支持乌克兰的理由。辩论中关于乌克兰的问题引发了混乱的交流。 在这种紧张气氛中，一名企业家维韦克·拉马斯瓦米试图插话，他认为需要“坦诚面对美国人民”关于乌克兰战争的问题，而尼基·黑莉则强调“俄罗斯的胜利就是中国的胜利”。不过，拉马斯瓦米认为中国是真正的敌人，他呼吁制定“合理的和平计划”来结束战争。 前副总统迈克·彭斯也加入了辩论，强调如果允许普京占领乌克兰，那将是中国占领台湾的绿灯。辩论中，克里斯·克里斯蒂表示美国是否过于关注乌克兰而忽视了中国、俄罗斯和伊朗加强合作的威胁。他认为这些问题都相互关联，而一些候选人对此显得非常幼稚。 克里斯蒂还抨击了前总统唐纳德·特朗普对普京的同情言辞，并强调中俄结盟是必须对抗的。他警告说，如果乌克兰的任何领土被割让给俄罗斯，那么普京将入侵波兰。 共和党议员在是否继续支持乌克兰抵抗俄罗斯入侵的问题上存在日益加剧的分歧。特朗普和一些国会共和党人呼吁结束或减缓对乌克兰的援助，与此形成鲜明对比的是，参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔等人坚定支持乌克兰。这种分歧对于美国的外交政策和国际地位可能产生深远的影响。
2023-09-27T20:14:55.560Z
The increasingly stark divide within the Republican Party on Ukraine was apparent onstage Wednesday at the second GOP presidential primary debate, as candidates sparred over whether to continue supporting the Eastern European country’s efforts to defend itself against an ongoing Russian invasion.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who earlier this year was widely criticized for dismissing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute,” vowed Wednesday night that he would end the war, though he did not specify how he would do so.
“It’s in our interest to end this war and that’s what I will do as president,” DeSantis said. “We are not going to have a blank check. We will not have U.S. troops and we’re gonna make the Europeans do what they need to do.”
DeSantis was immediately criticized by former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley — who told him the war has “never been a territorial dispute” — and by Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), who laid out a case for continuing to support Ukraine.
“Ninety percent of the resources that we send over to Ukraine is guaranteed as a loan,” Scott said. “Our national vital interest is in degrading the Russian military. By degrading the Russian military, we actually keep our homeland safer … An attack on NATO territory would bring us and our troops in [to the war]. By degrading the Russian military, we reduce, if not eliminate, an attack on NATO territory.”
The questions about Ukraine also prompted some of the most chaotic exchanges of the night. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who had been trying to interrupt Scott, jumped in after the South Carolina senator finished to say that they needed to “level with the American people” about the war in Ukraine.
“Just because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is … an evil dictator does not mean that Ukraine is good,” he said.
Haley interjected: “A win for Russia is a win for China. A win for Russia is a win for China.”
Ramaswamy cut her off and resumed: “China is the real enemy and we’re driving Russia further into China’s arms,” he said, calling for a “reasonable peace plan” to end the war.
Former vice president Mike Pence piped up and shouted, “Vivek, if you let Putin have Ukraine, that’s a green light to China [to] take Taiwan! Peace comes through strength!”
After much crosstalk, the moderators turned to former New Jersey governor Chris Christie to ask if the United States has focused too much on Ukraine and not enough on the threat from China, Russia and Iran forming closer ties.
“They’re all connected,” Christie said. “The Chinese are paying for the Russian war in Ukraine. The Iranians are supplying more sophisticated weapons, and so are the North Koreans now as well, with the encouragement of the Chinese.”
“The naiveté on the stage from some of these folks is extraordinary,” Christie added.
As he had earlier in the debate, Christie — one of the most vocal critics of former president Donald Trump among GOP primary candidates — also used the question to lash out at Trump’s sympathetic remarks toward Putin in the past.
“We need to say right now that the Chinese-Russian alliance is something we have to fight against, and we are not going to solve it by going over and cuddling up to Vladimir Putin,” Christie said. “Well, Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin was brilliant and a great leader. This is the person who is murdering people in his own country and now, not having enough blood, he’s now going to Ukraine to murder innocent civilians and kidnap 20,000 children.”
Christie warned that if any territory in Ukraine was ceded to Russia, then Putin would invade Poland next.
There has been a growing divide among GOP lawmakers over whether the United States should continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to fight the Russian invasion.
Trump and some congressional Republicans have called for ending or slowing aid to Ukraine, in sharp contrast to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others who have steadfastly supported Ukraine. Last month, McConnell said there was “no excuse” for Congress not to support more Ukraine aid.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has said he supports Ukraine but not “a blank check,” while hard-right GOP lawmakers such as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Matt Gaetz (Fla.) have increasingly spoken out against sending aid to Ukraine.