This is a question that you’ve likely heard liberal reporters asking Republicans quite a bit lately, including presidential candidates. “Do you want Ukraine to win or not?” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked it of Vivek Ramaswamy during their last interview. She would later go on to ask a version of the same question to Donald Trump at their town hall. It has become the go-to “gotcha” question for liberal reporters. Anyone who so much as questions how long we should keep funding the war in Ukraine or even suggests we should conduct an audit of where all of the money and equipment has gone is labeled as a “Putin stooge” or a “Russian apologist.” Do you want Ukraine to win or not?

First of all, even if you somehow think it’s possible for Ukraine to “win,” it’s not entirely clear if even Zelensky wants to win. He mostly just wants the fighting to stop. And it’s now being reported that he’s been meeting with China’s envoy to Ukraine after he had a call with Xi Jinping, seeking to broker a deal that would put an end to Russia’s attacks. (Associated Press)

China said Thursday its special envoy met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during talks in Kyiv earlier this week.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the meeting came amid discussions between envoy Li Hui and Ukraine’s foreign minister and other government officials.

“There is no remedy to resolve the crisis,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing. “All parties should create favorable conditions and accumulate mutual trust for the political settlement.”

If this disaster is going to end, China will have to play a major role in brokering a ceasefire. It’s clear that Xi Jinping is the one offering a lifeline to Vladimir Putin at the moment, giving him at least some leverage over the Kremlin if he chooses to exert it.

Returning to the original question, Republicans (and even some wavering Democrats) will need to get used to being asked this particular gotcha question for as long as the war lasts. Ramaswamy did a fairly good job with it, but there is another answer I would like to propose. And it’s more direct and confrontational than meekly saying that “of course” you want Ukraine to win. If asked, here’s how I would respond.

I refuse to answer your question until you define your terms. What do you mean when you say “win?” Are you implying that Ukraine has the capability to entirely defeat Russia’s military, take Moscow, and force Vladamir Putin from power? Because that’s insane. Even if Ukraine forces all of Russia’s troops out of the land Ukraine held prior to the invasion, the war won’t be over until Russia stops launching missiles into the country every day and attacking Ukraine’s troops at the border. So the war won’t be “over” and Ukraine will not have “won.”

If you’re asking if I want the fighting to end and have the Russians fall back behind their own borders, obviously I do, so that’s a ridiculous question also. What sane person outside of Russia wouldn’t want that? But there is no amount of money and arms that we can ship to Kyiv that will make that happen absent an agreement by the Russians to stand down. That will be a political agreement, not a military victory. The pen remains mightier than the sword and in this case, the sword is proving practically useless.

Every Republican candidate should jot down something like that and keep it in their pocket. They will all be asked sooner or later. There is nothing shameful about pushing for a negotiated settlement between Russia and Ukraine no matter who brokers the deal. And we have every right to know if there are any limits to the seemingly endless flow of cash and arms to Zelensky and to demand an audit of what’s been sent thus far. Nobody is required to preach Biden’s narrative on Ukraine and it’s shameful that we still have so many GOP leaders who are willing to do so.