Former Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. should support Ukraine in its war against Russia "until peace is restored."
Pence, speaking at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., spoke a day after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said a GOP-led House would not issue a "free blank check" to Ukrainians fighting against President Vladimir Putin's troops.
"We must continue to provide Ukraine with the resources to defend themselves," Pence said Wednesday during his speech.
"We must continue to bring economic pressure of the most powerful economy in the world on Russia. And we must continue to provide the generosity, compassion, and prayers of the American people until Russia relents and until peace is restored."
Pence, considered a possible 2024 presidential contender, rebuked Republicans who have pushed a more isolationist foreign policy.
"Now, I know there is a rising chorus in our party, including some new voices to our movement, who would have us disengaged with the wider world," Pence said. "But appeasement has never worked, ever, in history. And now more than ever, we need a conservative movement committed to America's role as leader of the free world and as a vanguard of American values.
"As Russia continues its unconscionable war of aggression to Ukraine, I believe that conservatives must make it clear that Putin must stop and Putin will pay. There can be no room in the conservative movement for apologists to Putin. There is only room in this movement for champions of freedom."
McCarthy, in line to become House speaker if the GOP regains control of the chamber in the Nov. 8 midterms, indicated a shift away from bipartisan U.S. support for Ukraine nearly eight months after Putin began his unprovoked attack.
"I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession, and they're not going to write a blank check to Ukraine," McCarthy told Punchbowl News in an interview published Tuesday. "They just won't do it. … It's not a free blank check."
Pence, meanwhile, appeared to align himself with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who last month declared that the "vast majority" of Republicans remain focused on Ukraine defeating Russia.
"There are a few voices on the right that seem to oppose the war, but the vast majority of us, certainly including myself, think defeating the Russians in Ukraine is high-priority," McConnell told Defense News in September.
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