Top Republican calls Ramaswamy’s Ukraine plan ‘surrender to Russian aggression’

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) called GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s plan for the Russia-Ukraine war a “surrender to Russian aggression.” 

“I think that would be a surrender to Russian aggression, just like we surrendered to the Taliban,” McCaul said Wednesday in an interview on CBS News, referring to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in 2021.

McCaul was asked about Ramaswamy’s foreign policy platform, which was detailed in a post in The American Conservative earlier this week. In the post, Ramaswamy said he would “accept” Russia’s control of the territories its forces have taken and pledged to stop Ukraine from joining NATO in exchange for Russia ending its military alliance with China. 

“This is not just about Russia and Putin, it’s about Chairman Xi [Jinping] and China and their unholy alliance,” McCaul said. “When I went to Asia, what happens in Ukraine will impact what happens in Taiwan. I think that this is very risky foreign policy.” 

Ramaswamy was the only candidate during the first GOP presidential debate last week to raise his hand when asked who would not continue to support aid to Ukraine — prompting backlash from some of his 2024 rivals. Republican presidential Nikki Hayley slammed his stance, claiming he had “no foreign policy and it shows.” 

“What I did notice at that debate, was that six of the eight candidates were very strongly supportive of our efforts to contain Russian aggression,” McCaul said.

“And then the last candidate was somewhere on the fence that if Europe stood up to the plate more, that he would be supportive,” he added, referring to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s position on the issue. 

The Pentagon has provided more than $43 billion in direct security aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war in early 2022. Last year, Congress approved $47 billion in total direct security assistance.

Defense officials in recent months have said accounting errors freed up a few billion dollars, but the Pentagon is unable to say how much funds are left exactly and how much has been spent.

On Tuesday, the U.S. announced it would send a new security package valued at $250 million, including more small arms ammunition and munitions for missiles for Kyiv. 

This latest package brings the U.S. closer to its limit of available Congress-approved funds left for Ukraine, setting up an internal fight within the GOP, which is increasingly divided over continued funding to the embattled country. 

The White House earlier this month requested an additional $13 billion in security assistance for Ukraine 

“We have a supplemental before us, there was no collaboration with Congress,” McCaul said. “You know, I’ve talked to the speaker about this and we’re going to take a look at it but we’re not going to rubber stamp or write a blank check.”

The Texas Republican said he anticipates something will pass before the end of the fiscal year related to Ukraine’s counter-offensive. 

“I just wish the administration had given them the weapons they needed a year and a half, two years ago, because we probably would be in a very different situation today,” he said.

Brad Dress contributed.