Mitt Romney named the elephant in the room in Ukraine

 Mitt Romney in an interview with ABC4's Brian McElhatten:

"Brian McElhatten: I want to ask you about foreign policy. That’s our first topic today. You were recently at the McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum. You were moderating a discussion with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and I want to play a clip to tee up my first question for you so our audience can hear. Let’s roll that tape if we could.

Romney (CLIP): … I got to be honest, I do not understand how anyone can argue that we shouldn’t provide weapons to Ukraine. I can’t. They’ve changed their argument over time from one, you know, “The Europeans should do more!” Well, the Europeans are doing more. “Oh, well, we don’t have enough [resources].” They go from argument to argument, but more recently it is that there’s no way for Ukraine to win.

McElhatten: Okay, so to your point there, Senator Romney, we know there’s been a lot of pushback from some in your party, your colleague, Senator Mike Lee, particularly on aid to Ukraine. What do you make of that opposition?

Romney: Well, I respect other people’s points of view. That’s the nature of our political system. I find it hard to understand an argument that suggests that we would not stand with a sovereign nation that we have committed to help support their sovereignty. We agreed to do that back in the 1990s when they gave up their nuclear weapons. For us to walk away from that and to walk away from the defense of freedom strikes me as being a very bad miscalculation on the part of our nation if we were to do that, in part because we do well in a world where there is freedom and democracy and where people can buy our goods and services. We’ve done well, as a nation over the last 25, 30, 40 years, and walking away from like-minded people would be a mistake.

McElhatten: Well, you’re on the Foreign Relations Committee. You watch these international events happening all the time. You’re briefed by experts. I’m curious about your opinion here. There’s an expected Russian offensive this summer. Are you concerned about how Ukraine might perform then?

Romney: Well, there’s no question but that Ukraine is going up against a massive superpower and as an underdog—there’s no question about that. I think a lot of people, even in our own government, felt that Ukraine would collapse in the first few days of the Russian invasion, but they have performed extraordinarily well. Their leadership was strong. Their people were determined and courageous. And all they’re asking for from us is the weaponry, that in many respects, we promised we’d provide. And it’s in America’s interest to see Vladimir Putin get the message: “You can’t invade your neighbors. And if you do invade, there will be consequence.” I can’t tell you that the battlefield will be won by Ukraine. But I can tell you that if we were to shrink from providing support to a nation that wants to defend itself, then no nation in the world would believe us anymore. And Russia would invade their neighbor, another neighbor, Poland—a NATO nation. We’d be committed at that point to send in troops to help defend Poland and other NATO nations that Putin might invade. So, keeping our own troops out of harm’s way is a high priority."