Ric Grenell, national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, told Newsmax on Wednesday that the United States should push diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine rather than providing weapons.
"I think that the really active pro-war crowd in Washington, D.C., has got [President] Joe Biden's ears. We are very prepared for war," Grenell said on "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "...We keep supplying more war products. I think we've got the war side covered.
"The diplomacy side, if you're going to be a good President of the United States, you want to be able to have a strong Department of Defense, but you also need a really strong State Department."
Grenell said the U.S. needs stronger diplomatic options to help Ukraine end the almost year-long conflict with Russia, and that Secretary of State Antony Blinken should be pushing both sides to the negotiating table.
"The reality is I don't see strong diplomacy options. There's nobody flying in and saying, 'Let's talk,'" Grenell said. "Where is Antony Blinken, our secretary of state? Why isn't he on his own plane? He's got his own plane. He can board his own plane, and he can fly to Ukraine, and he can gather foreign ministers and ideas.
"No one is saying that there needs to be a weak diplomatic solution. You can have strong diplomacy, but I don't see anyone talking about an idea of peacefully solving this problem."
While the U.S. has stepped up diplomatic efforts since December, it has also approved more weapons and weapons systems being sent to Ukraine, angering Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported.
Voice of America reported in January that some Americans are becoming weary of the war and providing supporting for Ukraine.
"I feel bad for the Ukrainian people, and for innocent Russians, too, for that matter," Jamie Moorman, an independent voter from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, told Voice of America at the time. "But my opinion is shifting. I was in favor of the U.S. providing funding to Ukraine at the start of the war, but at this point, haven't we done enough?"
Grenell said that if Trump was still president, he would have had both sides negotiating.
"If Donald Trump was the president, he would have immediately had the parties at the table hammering out an agreement and it would have been agreement everybody loved, and that everybody hated," Grenell said.
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