My Ukraine Deal Will End Russia-China Alliance, Stop Ukraine From Joining NATO: Republican Presidential Candidate Ramaswamy

US Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has said his deal to end the Ukraine War includes the end of Russia's alliance with China and the prevention of Ukraine's entry into North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 

Ramaswamy, a critic of the US support to Ukraine, also said that the US objective should not be the defeat of Russia but the end of the Russia-China alliance. 

In an interview with CNN, Ramaswamy also criticised President Joe Biden's policies and said it's misplaced. 

"The Biden administration is so stubbornly attached to the idea of getting Xi Jinping to drop Vladimir Putin. What I think is we need is to have Vladimir Putin to drop Xi Jinping," said Ramaswamy, adding that he would court Putin the way former US President Richard Nixon courted the then-Chinese leader Mao in 1972. 

What did Vivek Ramaswamy say?

Vivek Ramaswamy, a critic of the Biden administration's policy on the Ukraine War, said the US objective should be to advancements of the US interests, not the defeat of Russia. 

Ramaswamy also said that he would have the current lines frozen "that would leave parts of Donbas region with Russia".

Donbas is the eastern region of Ukraine comprising Donetsk and Luhansk provinces. Large parts of the province are controlled by Russia. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the country will not cede territory, Ramaswamy has called for a freeze of frontlines, meaning Russia gets control of the region it currently controls in lieu of cessation of hostiles. 

Ramaswamy also said that the US support of Ukraine is further driving Russia into China's embrace. He further said that "driving Russia into the ground" is not the goal of the United States and everyone has forgotten it. 

Ramaswamy said, "Just like Nixon went to China in 1972 —I think Putin is like the new Mao— I will visit Moscow and I will pull Russia out of alliance with China. The Russia-China military alliance is the single-biggest military threat that we face today — hypersonic missile capabilities, nuclear capabilities of Russia far ahead of us or China, a naval capacity ahead of ours combined with an economy that we depend on for our modern way of life. Those two nations are in an military alliance with each-other...So my foreign policy centres on wearing that alliance and that's how we actually secure peace."

Earlier, Ramaswamy had said he would stop the US military assistance of Ukraine. This is in line with the new brand of Republican leaders who are opposed to the US support of Ukraine and are instead focussed internally. The traditional Republicans, however, support the aid to Ukraine and see the US leadership in the defence of Ukraine as part of the rightful role of the United States in the world affairs. 

Republican candidates on Ukraine War

Unlike the broad consensus in the Democratic Party, the Republicans are divided on Ukraine War. The Republican presidential candidate too are divided with those with the traditional bend supporting Ukraine as part of the US global leadership role and the new and 'outsider' leaders like Vivek Ramaswamy calling for an end to the US support and not considering it a priority. 

Both the leading Republican presidential candidates, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, oppose the US aid to Ukraine. Others like Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, and Chris Christie support the aid to Ukraine. Haley has said that a win for Ukraine in the war is win for all of us. 

As per the latest figures on election news and data site FiveThirtyEight, Trump leads the Republican primary with 54.5 per cent support, followed by DeSantis at 15.4, Ramaswamy at 7.9, Pence at 5.1, Haley at 3.7, and Christie at 3.3. 

Trump and DeSantis have said the Ukraine War does not matter much to the United States. The New York Times reported, "Former President Donald J. Trump has said that the war in Ukraine is not of vital importance to the United States...He claimed falsely that the United States was sending so much equipment that “we don’t have ammunition for ourselves."

DeSantis previously termed the Ukraine War as "territorial dispute" and said it does not have vital importance to the United States.

"While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness with 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,” said DeSantis in March.