Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) discussed the recent missile attacks by Russia against Ukraine in a recent appearance on Fox News's Faulkner Focus, which not only stalled negotiations to end the war but earned President Donald Trump's ire. Thus, he must treat Russian President Vladimir Putin as "the war criminal that he is."
Trump excoriated Putin in a Truth Social post, saying the Russian President has "gone absolutely CRAZY!" after a Sunday missile strike launched by Russia against Ukraine.
Rep. Mast suggested the attack was Putin's attempt to put himself at an advantage in negotiations, saying, "He reads this as if he can continue to take life, and if he can continue to take land in kilometers away from Ukraine, then that puts him in a stronger position to get all of the terms he wants."
As a result, Rep. Mast characterized Putin as someone who "does not see the value of life, and so I think President Trump justly characterizes it as crazy."
"If you have no value in human life, then you are a crazy person," the Florida Congressman continued, adding, "At a certain point, [Putin] either has to take value for human life, or everybody is going to have to recognize that he is the war criminal that we have been saying that he is. And I would just make one other point: Even if Putin is in a strong position because he can continue to take life and take land, he is getting himself into a position, I think, that the world never takes him or Russia back."
Still, Mast pointed out that Russia and Ukraine have continued to engage in talks and are exchanging prisoners, but quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio as saying, "Russia wants something that does not belong to them, and Ukraine cannot take back what has been stolen from them. Right now, that is the difficult position."
At the beginning of May, Trump announced a new economic partnership with Ukraine in the form of the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, aimed at deepening ties between the two countries in security, natural resources, and energy transactions.
