Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine must continue to advance, even with the ongoing airstrikes between the two warring nations, former Rep. Pete King said on Newsmax Sunday.
"I think the fact that the president has [Vladimir Putin] at the table is important," the New York Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend." "I do think, though, that we should remember that Russia is the aggressor and despite what the administration says, [Ukraine] has not gotten $350 billion of aid…the Europeans have put in a lot."
Still, King said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must cooperate in the talks, but "that can't be done in a way that's going to allow Russia to keep going forward. It has to be some idea of a peacekeeping force."
The war does need to end, he added, but hopefully, "it's not done in a way where Russia can resume attacks in a year or two."
King also talked about Columbia University's decision last week to changes demanded by the Trump administration to restore $400 million in federal funding that was pulled on allegations that the school was tolerating antisemitism on campus.
"The open antisemitism that was carried out not just verbally but physically, and the pressure that was put on Jewish students is absolutely indefensible," said King. "They have become like a haven of pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas attacks there, including the faculty, many people in the administration." However, he said he would not trust Columbia to keep up its end of the bargain.
"I think they will try and get around this," he said. "You have to stay on them. They're hoping that once the deal is made, then people will start looking the other way."
King on Sunday further discussed the call for maximum punishment on people who are attacking Tesla dealerships nationwide, and agreed with Attorney General Pam Bondi's labeling them as "domestic terrorists."
"These are the electric vehicles that the left embraced three or four years ago and now they're silent while they're destroying them," said King.
He noted that the left also engaged in "absolute silence" on Tesla/Space X owner Elon Musk upon the return of astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore last week, "because they hate [him] so much."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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