Ron DeSantis says it's in 'everybody's interest' to have a cease-fire in Ukraine

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that it's in the world's interest for a cease-fire to be negotiated in Ukraine.

DeSantis made the comments during a wide-ranging interview with Nikkei Asia on Tuesday while the Florida governor is in Japan on an international trade mission.

In the interview, DeSantis warned that an extended war is possible in Ukraine.

"You don't want to end up in like a [Battle of] Verdun situation, where you just have mass casualties, mass expense and end up with a stalemate," DeSantis said. "It's in everybody's interest to try to get to a place where we can have a cease-fire."

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Over 700,000 people either were killed or hurt during the 302-day Battle of Verdun during World War I.

DeSantis also called out Europe, and Germany in particular, for allegedly not doing enough to help Ukraine.

"The Europeans really need to do more [on Ukraine]. I mean, this is their continent. The U.S. has provided security for them. And yes, Poland – there's some that are doing stuff, and that should be appreciated. But Germany, they're not doing anything," DeSantis said.

"We have foreign policy elites that do things without having a concrete objective in mind," DeSantis added.

DeSantis' comments come after he told Fox News that the United States shouldn't become further involved in Russia's war in Ukraine.

​"While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party — becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them," DeSantis said.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (C) introduces his wife Casey (L) to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as he pays a courtesy call at the latter's official residence in Tokyo April 24, 2023.  (KIMIMASA MAYAMA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

He later told Fox Nation’s "Piers Morgan Uncensored" that the comments were "mischaracterized," after criticism from Republicans, and called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" and "basically a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons." 

"Well, I think it’s been mischaracterized. Obviously, Russia invaded that and that was wrong," DeSantis said. "They invaded Crimea and took that in 2014. That was wrong. What I’m referring to is kinda where the fighting is going on now, which is that western border or eastern border reaching Donbas and then Crimea."

DeSantis said that his earlier comments calling the war a "territorial dispute" were referring to "the conflict area" instead than expressing that "Russia had a right to that."

"And so, if I should have made that more clear, I could have done it," DeSantis said. "But I think the larger point is, OK, Russia is not showing the ability to take over Ukraine, to topple the government or certainly to threaten NATO. That’s a good thing. They’ve been weakened. You now have the fighting in those areas."

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A view shows residential buildings damaged by a military strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region, Ukraine April 16, 2022.  (REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko)

"If I could snap my fingers, I’d give it back to Ukraine 100 percent," DeSantis added. "Russia did not have the right to go into Crimea or to go in February of 2022, and that should be clear."

Fox News' Julia Musto and Kerry J. Byrne contributed to this report.