Senator Schmitt on Russia, Ukraine Peace Plan, Efforts to Combat Venezuela Drug Flows
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) joined Fox News Sunday to discuss the reported peace plan to end the Russia, Ukraine war and President Trump’s efforts against narco-terrorist drug dealers in Venezuela.
Watch the full interview HERE.
Senator Schmitt on the Reported Russia, Ukraine Peace Plan:
“President Trump ran on the idea of resolving this bloody war. This is a meat grinder at this point, and he wants to stop the killing. I think President Trump approaches this as a realist — you take the world as it is, not how you want it to be, not how you wish it would be, but actually how it is. And the truth of the matter is — and a lot of people won’t say it is — the Ukrainians have been losing for a long time. They’ve lost 20 percent of their territory. They have a manpower problem. They have a munitions problem. What President Trump is trying to accomplish is maintain Ukrainian sovereignty, make sure there’s a pathway to rebuild the country, and also lessen the likelihood that this will ever happen again. And so, they put forward a proposal, a framework. Secretary of State Rubio and the Secretary of the Army, Driscoll, they’re all in Geneva right now, working with the Ukrainians, working with the Europeans, to try to get to some consensus here on the 28-point [plan]. I would say that most of those, at least half of those, have been talked about for a long time, and there’s a lot of agreement. So, you have to narrow the gap now and try to get to a place where you recognize the realities on the ground. And, I have to say, that that the Washington consensus has been so wrong about this, Shannon, for so long. They’ve been wrong about a lot of things over the last 30 years. President Trump is coming in and saying, ‘we want to actually end the killing’. Because the people that are critical of this right now, they don’t really have another plan, and they live in this fantasy world that another round of sanctions, or another round of weapons, or another round of cash is going to solve the problem. It won’t. So, I think you recognize the reality, and you try to bring the parties together to end the war and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
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“Let’s be clear, the Ukrainians have been valiant here and very courageous in defending their country. But I think, the situation on the ground now is one that this is ripe again for striking peace. I would say that the issues related to security guarantees and territorial disputes or issues or gains that Russia has made and what would be included — that’s still part of the ongoing negotiation that’s happening right now in Geneva. I don’t think those [points] in particular are set in stone, but I do think there’s a willingness, hopefully, for all the parties to come together. Because there really isn’t an alternative here, Shannon. The people who want to thump their chest and say that this should go on forever are ignoring the realities on the ground. President Trump is taking a very realist approach and saying that this [war] has gone on long enough. That killing has to stop. This is where it is, whether you like it or not. I think to maintain Ukrainian sovereignty, to give them a pathway to prosperity in the future through investment, and make sure this doesn’t happen again, is all part of the upside here for Ukraine. As opposed to continuing a war and possibly losing even more territory.”
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“The American people have grown tired the sort of Wilsonian adventurism that’s dominated permanent Washington for the last 30 years, under the guise that America can be everywhere, all at once, all the time. We live in a world of scarcity. The United States of America needs to refocus its attention in much more meaningful way on the homeland, our hemisphere, and then taking on our chief adversary, which is China. So, what does that mean? It means the Europeans have to step up in a much more meaningful way. Op-eds don’t win wars. Rhetoric doesn’t win wars. Percentages of GDP that don’t go to munitions don’t win wars. It’s time for the Europeans to step up in a much more meaningful way for the defense of their own continent.”
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“I think that if you’re going to get to a compromise here, Russia is not going to get everything they want, Ukraine is not going to get everything they want. That’s the nature of a compromise. That’s the nature of a peace deal. That’s kind of the process that’s playing out right now […] The invasion is something that nobody wanted to see. I think if President Trump was in office, it never would have happened. The only time Russia ever moved —whether it was in Crimea or in Ukraine — is when you had weak Democrat presidents, who are some of the same folks that are projecting all of this advice [on the reported peace plan] right now. My belief is that President Trump is the right guy. He’s got the right team in place to broker peace. We should all be rooting for that.”
Senator Schmitt on Efforts Against Venezuela Traffickers:
“Well, we’ve been advised and [Congress] should have our oversight role. But the truth is, these are core Article II [Constitutional] powers. I find it interesting that The Washington Post is always citing these anonymous sources all the time for these stories that are totally bogus and lack any legal backing. The truth is, we ought to be making sure that our interests are respected in our own hemisphere, that includes having aircraft carriers in our own hemisphere. It also means taking out narco-terrorists who are finding new ways to poison Americans. The southern border is effectively closed, Shannon. That’s how they got a lot of the poison into America that’s killing up to 100,000 people a year. Now they’re on the open seas, the high seas, and we have every right to blow those boats out of the water. President Trump is justified doing it. I think it’s just this effort to kind of undermine the President’s decision making here, which I think the Congress supports.”
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