Ramaswamy says eastern Ukrainians don’t mind Russian occupation

Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has claimed that Ukrainians in the eastern part of the country do not mind Russian occupation.

The biotech CEO told a CNN town hall in Iowa that he would give Russia some concessions to end its unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

Mr Ramaswamy told the audience of GOP voters he was confident he could get Vladimir Putin to accept his peace plan, which would involve Russia cutting itself off from China militarily.

He described his plan as a “reasonable end” to the conflict, which has been waged since 24 February 2022.

Mr Ramaswamy said that his plan would “allow Ukraine to come out with sovereignty intact.”

But that it would come with “some territorial concessions of the Russian-speaking regions in eastern Ukraine.”

He told host Abby Phillip that his plan included a commitment not to admit Ukraine to NATO and that Moscow “exits its military alliance” with Beijing.

Mr Ramaswamy said he believed Mr Putin would go for his plan to end the bloodshed.

“So do I trust Vladimir Putin? Of course not. Is he a craven dictator? Absolutely, he is. But we will trust him to follow his self interest just as he will trust us to follow ours,” he said.

He was then asked what he would do as US president if the Russian leader marched his troops into Kyev.

“I think that’s a fictitious scenario for a lot of reasons. Part of the reason Putin has been able to seize eastern Ukraine is they have not had the same level of resistance as the rest of Ukraine,” he said.

“The eastern regions of Ukraine are Russian speaking and don’t even really view themselves as part of Ukraine … that is why there was no counter-insurgency or resistance.”