'Morally bankrupt': McConnell rips Trump for 'coddling' Russia deals

President Donald Trump's efforts to make deals with Russia and end its years-long war with Ukraine are "certain to fail," according to Sen. Mitch McConnell, with the Republican breaking his silence to accuse the president of "coddling" Vladimir Putin.

As The Hill reported Monday morning, former Senate Majority Leader McConnell has largely remained "silent" on issues surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war until now. Despite his recent months-long brush with illness and the questions it caused about his fitness for office, he remains chairman of the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee, and used that authority this week to blast Trump's recent claims that Russia "has been fine on Ukraine," even after it violated the terms of an energy-related ceasefire.

"This is factually wrong, strategically naive and morally bankrupt," McConnell wrote in a new op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. "His obsequious accommodation of Russia, rewarding the aggressor with sanctions relief, won’t persuade Mr. Putin to stop. History shows that such behavior emboldens Russia’s autocrat, who sees it as weakness."

He added later: "Threatening to withhold security and intelligence assistance or access to crucial satellite communications systems won’t materially weaken Ukraine’s will to defend itself, but it may allow Mr. Putin to make battlefield headway that had until now been out of reach. This could prolong the war, not shorten it."

McConnell further criticized Trump's desperate attempt to wrangle down soaring diesel prices by making a deal to purchase fuel from Russia, despite past economic sanctions against the country. The move has drawn widespread criticism across the political spectrum in Washington, with McConnell being far from the first Republican to take issue with it.

"When Russia’s limited supply of diesel has changed hands, it will have done little to bring down prices at the pump," McConnell wrote, echoing the same sentiments as numerous industry experts and economists. "Russian victory would have far worse consequences for our economic and national security and our global influence than temporarily high diesel prices. He is an ally of [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping. He will continue to seize opportunities to weaken America — and Europe."

Responding to the recent comments from Trump's special diplomatic envoy, Steve Witkoff, in which he praised Putin as a "humanitarian," McConnell added that, "If the president means what he says about ending the conflict, he should look to the wisdom of the American people, not naive businessmen who seem to think diplomacy entails fawning over adversaries. Mr. Putin is many things, but he is no humanitarian."