By Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US must continue to support Ukraine, former Vice President Mike Pence and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said Saturday, a stance that puts them at odds with the top two contenders for the Republican presidential nomination.
Foreign policy has emerged as the main ideological divide within the Republican Party as the 2024 nomination race heats up.
While former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have called for resources to be devoted to domestic issues rather than Ukraine, several other declared and likely presidential candidates have portrayed themselves as staunch defenders of the Eastern European country.
Both Pence and Sununu have previously defended Ukraine, but their comments on Saturday were particularly sharp and come as the Republican foreign policy feud intensifies.
This week, in a statement to conservative radio host Tucker Carlson, DeSantis said the war in Ukraine was a “territorial dispute,” which was not of vital national interest to the US.
DeSantis has not announced a presidential run, but he is widely expected to do so, and he is by far Trump’s most formidable Republican opponent.
Speaking in Iowa, Pence, who is also expected to run, took a jab at the Florida governor.
“I have to tell you that the war in Ukraine is not a territorial dispute. It is a Russian invasion,” he told a group of Republicans near Des Moines.
“I truly believe this is a testing moment for the free world to ensure peace in Eastern Europe.”
Pence was not critical of Trump, even though the former president opposes allocating more resources to Ukraine and once called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “genius” for invading the neighboring country.
In a Washington Post opinion column, New Hampshire governor Sununu went straight after Trump and DeSantis.
“Some in the Republican Party have lost their foreign policy moral compass, as evidenced by former President Donald Trump, who once called Putin’s invasion ‘genius’ and ‘clever,'” Sununu wrote.
Trailing far behind Trump and DeSantis, Pence is in contention for a distant third with former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, another supporter of Ukraine.
Sununu, a relatively moderate who is also considering a run, scores in the low single digits.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Josie Kao)
