Kari Lake Wants to Sit Zelensky, Putin Down For Peace Talks

Failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake said that she wants to "turn off" U.S. aid to Ukraine and "sit down" the leaders of Russia and Ukraine for peace talks.

Lake, previously known as a longtime local news anchor in Phoenix, was among the numerous Republican candidates endorsed by Donald Trump to lose their races in the 2022 midterm elections. Despite losing her race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, Lake has consistently refused to concede the race, claiming the results were "BS" and filing numerous lawsuits in an effort to overturn her loss. Most of these suits have failed so far.

Lake remains a prominent figure in conservative circles despite her lack of electoral success or any history of holding elected office. She makes numerous appearances at events and conferences, often giving speeches in which she criticizes President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. On Saturday, Lake shared a clip from a speaking engagement in Hungary to Twitter in which she decries the continued aid being sent to Ukraine, reiterating the common Republican talking point about the need for more spending on border security.

She also claims in the clip that "the only way to stop" the conflict between Russia and Ukraine "is to turn off the money to it" and bring together the two nations' leaders, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, for peace talks, a tactic that has failed to produce results in the past despite numerous attempts.

"The only way to stop that war is to turn off the money to it," Lake said. "And I believe that in America we need to turn off the money to this war and bring together Zelensky and Putin...and sit them down at a table and say, come to peace, we need peace in this world. Mothers demand peace for our children."

Several rounds of peace negotiations were held between Ukraine and Russia in the early months of the conflict, but failed to produce any results. The failure of the talks largely came down to Russia's desire for Crimea and the Donbas region to be officially recognized by Ukraine as Russian territory, which Ukraine dismissed as a violation of its sovereignty in the name of compromise.

In January, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there was "no prospect for diplomatic means of settling the situation around Ukraine," which he later reiterated in another statement from March, claiming that the conflict could only be resolved through military means.

Newsweek reached out to foreign defense experts via email for comment.