Ron Johnson: Russia-Ukraine war will end ‘in a negotiated settlement’

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said he thinks the war between Russia and Ukraine will end “in a negotiated settlement” in recent comments.

In an interview with radio talk show host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable,” Johnson said the war between Russia and Ukraine is “not a fair fight,” citing Russia’s nuclear weapons.

“The only way this war ends is in a negotiated settlement. Every day that goes by while this war continues, more Ukrainians die, citizens and soldiers, more Russian conscripts die. I take no joy in that. More of Ukraine gets destroyed,” Johnson said. “So, the sooner that they reach a negotiated settlement, the better from my standpoint.”

Johnson said he thinks Russia will not lose the war against its neighbor to the southeast. The Wisconsin senator said he doesn’t “like that reality, but it’s true.”

Johnson, who previously served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, said he has visited Ukraine a lot.

He said he has nothing but sympathy for the people of Ukraine and “nothing but contempt” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he said he thinks “Putin is not going to lose this war.”

“This war has to end,” Johnson said in the interview. “We’re not gonna like the result, but every day that goes by, we’re gonna like the result less.”

Johnson said he is not sure what the Biden administration plans to do about the situation in Ukraine, but he, like other GOP lawmakers, intends to make sure the U.S. Southern border gets attention in funding, too.

He said he is leveraging Biden’s request for international aid to Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars by saying, “You don’t get a dollar for Ukraine until you actually pass immigration reform.”

“So, I’m trying to make sure that the Republicans in the Senate will deny cloture on any bill to provide funding for Ukraine that doesn’t have benchmarks that the administration has to meet before the funding flows,” Johnson told Catsimatidis.