‘Our Goal Should Not Be For Putin To Lose’: Vivek Ramaswamy Tells Jim Acosta Russia Should Get To Keep Some Of Ukraine

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy believes it would be in America’s best interests to let Russia keep parts of Ukraine, and told CNN anchor Jim Acosta, if elected, he’d implement policy to do just that.

Ramaswamy appeared on CNN Tonight Thursday for a lengthy interview segment with Acosta, and among the topics covered were the candidate’s foreign policy views, particularly regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin, Communist Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, and America’s interest in the Ukraine war.

Acosta brought up Ramaswamy’s idea that Putin be “allowed to keep parts of Ukraine as part of a way to solve that conflict,” and asked, “what if wants parts of Poland next?”

Ramaswamy interrupted to say that Acosta was leaving out “the most important part of that deal,” and Acosta said, “aren’t you letting some of these authoritarian dictators off the hook?”

“Far from it,” Ramaswamy replied. He said that President Joe Biden is “stubbornly” committed to getting China to drop Russia, when it should be the other way around, and that if elected he’d go to Putin the way Richard Nixon famously went to China.

“Our engagement in Ukraine is further driving Russia into China’s arms,” he said. “So my foreign policy centers on weakening that alliance.”

As the discussion continued, Acosta pointedly prompted Ramaswamy twice. First, directly clarifying, “you would let Putin have parts of Ukraine,” which Ramaswamy both confirmed and added to by saying NATO shouldn’t take Ukraine as a member.

Acosta then said point blank, “that sounds like a win for Putin.”

“Well, our goal should not be for Putin to lose, our goal should be for America to win,” said Ramaswamy. “That’s what we have forgotten in this country, is that driving Russia into the ground is not a U.S. strategic goal. A U.S. strategic goal is to secure peace and prosperity for Americans.”

ACOSTA: And you’ve also suggested that Vladimir Putin be allowed to keep parts of Ukraine as part of a, as part of a way to solve that conflict. What if he wants parts of Poland next? What if he wants more of Ukraine next?

RAMASWAMY: You leave out the most important part of that deal. You leave out the most imporant part of the dea, is what actually advances —

ACOSTA: Aren’t you letting some of these authoritarian leaders off the hook?

RAMASWAMY: Far from it. I think that the Biden administration is so stubbornly attached to the idea of getting Xi Jinping to drop Vladimir Putin. What I think we need to be doing is get Vladimir Putin to drop Xi Jinping. Just like Nixon went to China in 1972, I think Putin is like the new Mao. I will visit Moscow and I will pull Russia out of its military alliance with China. The Russia-China military alliance is the single greatest military threat that we face today. Hypersonic missile capabilities, nuclear capabilities in Russia, far ahead of us or China. A naval capacity and China ahead of ours, combined with an economy that we depend on for our modern way of life. Those two nations are in a military alliance with one another, and nobody in either political party is talking about it. Worst of all, our engagement in Ukraine is further driving Russia into China’s arms. So my foreign policy centers on weakening that alliance. That is American interests. That is how we actually secure peace.

ACOSTA: But you would let Putin have parts of Ukraine.

RAMASWAMY: I would freeze the current lines of control, and that would leave parts of the Donbas region with Russia. I would also further make a commitment that NATO will not admit Ukraine to NATO. But there are even greater wins that I will give the United States in return. The top of the list–

ACOSTA: That sounds like a win for Putin.

RAMASWAMY: Well, our goal should not be for Putin to lose, our goal should be for America to win. That’s what we have forgotten in this country, is that driving Russia into the ground is not a US strategic goal. A US strategic goal is to secure peace and prosperity for Americans. And so, you know what? I do think many of those military resources being used to protect against an invasion across somebody else’s border halfway around the world should be used to protect against the invasion across our own southern border right here at home. And in the meantime, yes, we need to pull Russia apart from China instead of driving Russia further into China’s hands. And I think that we have a foreign policy establishment in both parties, frankly, Republican Party and Democratic Party alike, that behaves as though we’re in still in the Cold War of the last century, forgetting that the USSR does not exist anymore and that the real threat we face today is communist China, which is that much stronger when Vladimir Putin is in Xi Jinping’s camp.

Watch the clip above via CNN.