3.20.22
Right-wing strategist Roger Stone, a prominent ally of former President Donald Trump, appears to have sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin in support of his invasion of Ukraine—claiming the Kremlin leader is "acting defensively." While polls show that the majority of Americans—Republicans, independents and Democrats—support the Ukrainians as they fight back against Russia's unprovoked aggression, some on the right have expressed views critical of Ukraine. In a Saturday interview on Real America's Voice, Stone took argued that Putin's actions were defensive. "Ukraine is not even remotely about what they are telling us about," he said. "Ukraine is about the fact that the Ukrainians have used their soil to place dual-launch missile pads—missiles that would be aimed at the Soviet Union." In regards to the missile pads, the U.S. has deployed missile defense batteries in Romania and plans to do so in Poland, according to Foreign Policy. However, Ukraine only had decades-old Soviet era missile defense systems at the start of the war, Forbes reported in December.Stone has promoted similar claims about Ukraine and Russia through his Telegram channel as well. "Russian groups are saying they uncovered a plot by Ukrainians to release a biological weapon in the country with NATO's help," a recent post shared by the right-wing strategist said.
