CNN
—
Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell sharply criticized the Trump administration’s Ukraine policy and pivot toward isolationism Thursday night, accusing President Donald Trump’s advisers of showing “their embarrassing naivete” in dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
McConnell, a staunch supporter of Ukraine who delivered remarks while being awarded the US-Ukraine Foundation’s highest honor, warned that “some of the president’s advisers” are urging Trump to pull back from supporting the war-torn nation, and argued that such a move would be a sign of “weakness.”
“This war is a reminder that what happens in one region has implications in another. That weakness in the face of one adversary would invite aggression from another even closer to home. That our credibility was not divisible,” McConnell said. “Allies half a world away in Asia have told us the same – that Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression matters to those who live in China’s shadow.”
“America can’t afford to ignore these lessons. But that’s exactly what some of the president’s advisers are urging him to do.”
The pointed remarks from McConnell come as Trump has spoken with Putin twice since taking office – breaking a sustained period of silence between the White House and the Kremlin – and follow the president’s fiery Oval Office meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky late last month.
McConnell’s desire for an active US role in deterring aggression from Russia in Ukraine has put him at odds with a growing share of the Republican electorate, which has embraced Trump’s more isolationist view. And while the Kentucky Republican has largely voted with Trump during his tenure, he recently put himself at odds with nearly all Senate Republicans when he cast a trio of votes against Trump’s Cabinet nominees – including for the critical defense secretary and director of national intelligence roles.
In turn, McConnell, the longest-serving leader in Senate history when he stepped down from the role in November, has drawn Trump’s ire.
McConnell on Thursday noted that the US’ allies and adversaries are watching closely as the administration praises Putin.
“When the president’s envoys trumpet the magnanimity of a thuggish autocrat, they do so under the watchful eyes of his friends in Beijing, Tehran, and Pyongyang. When his representatives in negotiations masquerade as neutral arbiters, or legitimize sham elections, or treat aggressor and victim as morally equivalent, they do so in full view of longtime partners across the globe – some who know the taste of aggression, and some who have good reason to fear its imminent arrival,” McConnell said.
“When American officials court the favor of an adversary at the expense of allies. When they mock our friends to impress an enemy. They reveal their embarrassing naivete.”
The former GOP leader pointed to former President Ronald Reagan’s military buildup and the end of the Cold War, and specifically what he said is “the most popular phrase in Washington today: peace through strength.”
“But too many of those who use it – particularly among the president’s advisers – don’t seem ready to summon the resources and national will it requires,” he argued.
McConnell ended with a stark warning: “To cut off Ukraine is to stab ourselves in the back. So is the denigration of allies who have fought and died alongside us.”