Columbia: Ron DeSantis of Florida and former president Donald Trump are emerging as the leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. However, they all agree that the US doesn't have a crucial strategic interest in stopping Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson conducted a survey on the war with the declared and potential GOP presidential candidates, including Trump and DeSantis. Republicans' responses showed a range of viewpoints and highlighted how the US response to the war in Ukraine is evolving into a litmus test during the early stages of the Republican presidential primary.

But given their prominence in the party and the similarity of their positions, Trump and DeSantis' responses stood out in particular. They argued that American involvement had only pushed Russia towards rival nations like China and denounced the tens of billions of dollars in aid that the US had given to Ukraine.

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We cannot put the defence of our own country ahead of intervening in a war that is spreading abroad, wrote DeSantis, who hasn't yet declared a run for president in 2024.

Europe is doing itself no favours. They are relying heavily on the assistance of the US in this regard. That is extremely unfair to us," Trump said, urging European nations to contribute more to the cost of defending Ukraine.

While the US has contributed the lion's share of aid, other European nations have made sizable contributions, with several giving Ukraine a much larger percentage of their GDP than the US.

In line with the official GOP position on the conflict, former vice president Mike Pence and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley emphasised the significance of a Ukrainian victory over Russia. They issued a warning that NATO nations were in danger and predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not cease his aggression against Ukraine.

Pence, who is thinking about running for president in 2024, wrote: "We support those who fight our enemies on their shores, so we will not have to fight them ourselves. Pence said, in a subtly critical reference to Trump, who has called Putin "smart," "There is no room for Putin apologists in the Republican Party," invoking a phrase he has used since the start of the conflict.

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DeSantis echoed a Russian talking point by referring to the conflict as a "territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia" in his first substantive description of a strategy for Ukraine. International bodies like the United Nations recognise Ukraine's borders.

While the US has many important national interests, including securing its borders, addressing the military's readiness crisis, achieving energy security and independence, and limiting the influence of the Chinese Communist Party, furthering its involvement in a territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine is not one of them, according to DeSantis.

DeSantis stated that the US shouldn't offer any assistance that would enable the deployment of American troops or "enable Ukraine to engage in offensive operations outside of its borders," citing a desire for peace.

F-16s and long-range missiles ought to be off the table, according to DeSantis. "These actions run the risk of directly involving the US in the conflict and bringing us closer to a hot war between the two biggest nuclear powers in the world. That risk must be eliminated. F-16 fighter jets have not yet been sent by the Biden administration, and it has been made clear to Ukraine that US weapons should not be used to attack Russian territory.

Trump noted that Russia's invasion did not occur during his administration, as he has in the past, and blamed the conflict on "a new lack of respect for the US."
Trump asserted that "that horrible war would end in 24 hours, or less," if he were elected president.

When previously questioned about how he would carry out this task, Donald Trump stated in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference that "you need that office, that power, that whatever it is" of being US president, but he did not provide any further information.

In his capacity as president, Trump denigrated Ukraine and courted Putin, publicly supporting the Russian president's denials that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election.

Trump noted that Russia's invasion did not occur during his administration, as he has in the past, and blamed the conflict on "a new lack of respect for the US."
Trump asserted that "that horrible war would end in 24 hours, or less," if he were elected president.

When previously questioned about how he would carry out this task, Donald Trump stated in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference that "you need that office, that power, that whatever it is" of being US president, but he did not provide any further information.

Potential 2024 presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina demanded "accountability for every single dollar spent" on aid to Ukraine. Aware of the "adversarial position they have taken against the American people" by "partnering" with Russia, he also warned the US to be wary of the Chinese.

Another potential candidate for the presidency, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, argued that the US "has come to rely far too heavily on financial sanctions as a weapon of deterrence" against Russia. She called the US aid to Ukraine a "waste" and warned that it put the conflict at risk of getting worse.

"We shouldn't be fighting this; Europe should. We shouldn't squander tax dollars in the event of a nuclear exchange, she wrote. Many of the survey respondents, including DeSantis, Haley and Pence, warned that the US shouldn't write "blank checks" to Ukraine — a notion that Biden has strongly pushed back on, saying the administration hadn't given Ukraine everything it had asked for.

Given Ukraine's reputation for corruption, US officials also claim they have put multiple layers of oversight on how US funding and other aid are distributed.

To bridge the gap between defence hawks and noninterventionists who more closely resemble Trump's position, congressional Republicans in Washington have been mounting an aggressive campaign to argue for the continuation of US spending on the war effort.

On Tuesday, the White House rebuffed the argument that helping Ukraine was not a crucial US interest.

It's a good idea to have a backup plan in case the backup plan fails. John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said. And for those who are concerned about the price tag associated with the assistance we have given to Ukraine, we encourage them to think about the price in American blood and treasure should Mr. Putin succeed continue to expand his goals.”

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, paid a surprise visit to Washington just before Christmas and spoke at the US Capitol, claiming that the US aid to his nation was "not charity" but rather an investment in democracy and world security. This battle cannot be disregarded in the belief that the ocean or some other barrier will offer security, according to Zelensky.

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None of the respondents in the GOP poll supported overthrowing the Russian government. Putin's removal "would greatly raise the stakes of the conflict," according to DeSantis, and a replacement "would likely be even more ruthless." Putin's fate should be decided by the Russian people, according to Pence.

Trump recommended the real coup d'etat should occur closer to home.

In his letter, Trump argued that regime change in the US was far more crucial. "The Biden administration is to blame for this mess,"