Washington — Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, said European leaders need to have a “much stronger message” toward Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine amid efforts to kickstart peace talks and an eventual deal to end the war.
“If we want to win, if we want a better outcome for Ukraine, at the end of these peace talks, you need to be uncomfortably aggressive,” Crenshaw said of his message to European leaders on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Crenshaw, speaking from the Munich Security Conference, was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the annual security summit in recent days. They also heard from retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia who is involved with handling the peace talks.
The Texas Republican said Kellogg was “very clear that what the kind of peace we’re talking about is a lasting peace,” which he said will involve security assurances. Crenshaw said exactly what that looks like is still being determined, while arguing that Europe must be a major player.
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Crenshaw said European countries need to not only bolster their defense spending, but also talk about “where you’re going to be putting actual troops on the ground.”
“Stop following our lead and actually take the lead,” Crenshaw said. “Let us be actually holding you back. That would be an ideal situation, and vastly change the power dynamic when dealing with Putin.”
Crenshaw argued that if European leaders want a seat at the table, they should “earn it.”
“We listen to Zelenskyy,” Crenshaw said. “And I want to listen to other European leaders as well, but I want them to be uncomfortably aggressive, because that gives us more leverage in order to help Ukraine come out with a better outcome.”
The comments come as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has drawn criticism even among some Republicans in recent days for suggesting it was unrealistic for Ukraine to expect NATO membership. He also cast doubt that the country will be able to return to its pre-2014 borders, before Russia first invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. Hegseth later walked back those comments, saying that “everything is on the table.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who also appeared on “Face the Nation” Sunday, said the administration is sending a “mixed message” on Ukraine. She said she’s hopeful that “the upshot of that is that we are going to do everything we can to support Ukraine.”
But Crenshaw defended the White House’s posture toward the possible peace talks, saying “you have to listen to the White House as a whole,” noting that the administration made clear that “nothing is off the table.”
“You walk into a negotiation with everything on the table. And I think that’s exactly what this White House is doing,” Crenshaw said, adding that “there’s a path forward here,” although the details aren’t yet clear.
Crenshaw acknowledged that the U.S. hasn’t yet received a commitment to negotiate from Putin, reiterating his request of European leaders to get “uncomfortably aggressive” with the Russian leader, who he said “only responds to power.”
