Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) pushed back against the idea that the Russian war in Ukraine could end in peaceful negotiation, saying those who hold that view “may be deceiving” themselves.
In a speech at the Halifax International Security Forum this weekend, Rounds called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “tyrant” and suggested he would be surprised if Putin were satisfied with any concession from the West.
“It’s time to take a hard look at this thing and really ask ourselves, do you believe that this tyrant, if you offer him a part of a free country, do you think he’s going to stop?” Rounds said. “Or do you think he’s going to look at that and say, ‘You see? We’re strength. We’re Russian strength.’”
“See, I think that’s what happens,” Rounds continued.
Rounds said the United States needs to stand by Ukraine and give the democratic country the agency to determine for itself the best path forward.
“I think the best thing in the world that we can do is make our commitment to Ukraine,” Rounds said, “allow them to participate in deciding whether or not victory is actually achieved and whether or not Russia would continue to support a tyrant as the body bags continue to come home.”
Rounds acknowledged that most wars end in treaties, but he said, sometimes, when tyrants have been involved, negotiations have been off the table.
“I wish I could say there was an easy way out. There is not,” Rounds said. “And while the vast majority of all wars end with a peace treaty, it didn’t happen in Germany. It didn’t happen in Japan.”
“I fear, as much as I would love to say that there is a path towards a peaceful resolution to this by negotiating with this tyrant, I suspect that we may be deceiving ourselves,” Rounds continued.
Rounds, an ally of President-elect Trump’s, praised the Biden administration for standing with Ukraine but was critical of the pace at which weapons have been supplied. He noted the U.S. is offering “our treasure, not our blood,” and “Ukraine has offered not just everything they have, and to have this fight on their own homeland, they have offered the blood of their own kids.”
Rounds made clear in his remarks that he speaks neither for the current Biden administration, nor the incoming Trump administration. He said he was offering only his own opinion.
Trump has said in the past that he would end the war in Ukraine before the inauguration on Jan. 20, but he has offered few details about how that would be accomplished, leading to fears that he would cede territory seized by Russia in the nearly three-year war.
