US presidential hopeful DeSantis calls Russia’s war on Ukraine a 'territorial dispute', Ukraine's MFA responds

Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko wrote about this on Twitter.

“We are sure that as a former military officer deployed to a combat zone, Governor Ron DeSantis knows the difference between a ‘dispute’ and war. We invite him to visit Ukraine to get a deeper understanding of Russia’s full-scale invasion and the threats it poses to US interests,” he tweeted. 

He also added The Independent's tweet with the headline “Ron DeSantis dismisses Ukraine war as 'territorial dispute'”

For reference

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is known for his radical conservative views on gender identity, racial issues in schools, and is also strongly opposed to abortion, the BBC reports.

In the first gubernatorial election in California in 2018, he had the unequivocal support of then-President Donald Trump. In the 2022 re-election, DeSantis won with a record-breaking 20% margin over his rival. Now, according to a number of polls, DeSantis is much more popular in Florida than Trump and may become the Republican candidate in the 2024 US presidential election.

In February 2023, DeSantis criticized the White House for helping Ukraine. Later, on March 13, Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis said on Fox News that protecting Ukraine's borders was not a vital US interest.

On March 5, it became known that according to a poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), former US President Donald Trump received 62% support as the Republican Party's nominee for the 2024 elections.