Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says Russia Acted In ‘Good Faith’ In Ukraine Invasion

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday he believes Russia acted in “good faith” amid the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, adding the U.S., in fact, bore heavy responsibility for the ongoing war.

Kennedy, who announced his bid for the Democratic nomination in April, made the comments on SiriusXM’s “The Briefing with Steve Scully.” Scully asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continued effort to seize part of Ukraine despite international condemnation. Kennedy claimed the way forward involved “baby steps” toward negotiation, before the host pointed out Putin has so far rejected those calls unless Russia keeps the territory it’s already claimed.

“No, no. Putin has repeatedly said yes,” Kennedy said. “In fact, he negotiated — two times he agreed to agreements. He agreed to the Minsk Accord, and then he agreed in 2022 to an agreement that would’ve left Ukraine completely intact.”

“It was us who forced Zelensky to sabotage that agreement. It was already signed,” he continued. “So, you know, the Russians were acting in good faith. … So, no, I think we’re the ones who have not been acting in good faith.”

The U.S. has repeatedly called on Russia to end the invasion since it began in February 2022. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that the Kremlin could end the war “at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks against Ukraine’s cities and people.” But Putin has claimed Ukraine would not win and vowed to push on.

Kennedy has shared pro-Russia talking points in the past and asserted this week that the war was a “creation of a relentless mentality of foreign domination” in the United States. He’s also called the conflict a “proxy war.”

“I abhor Russia’s brutal and bloody invasion of that nation,” Kennedy said during a speech in New Hampshire on Tuesday. “But we must understand that our government has also contributed to its circumstances through repeated deliberate provocations of Russia going back to the 1990s.”

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Later Wednesday, Kennedy shared a video on Twitter slamming “us versus them” thinking and referencing his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, who “installed a direct line between himself and Soviet leader Khrushchev.”

Kennedy also responded to criticism about his candidacy for the Democratic nomination and concerns over his political positions. Kennedy is one of the most influential spreaders of anti-vaccine misinformation, and his work has prompted harsh criticism from his own family. His star in the anti-vaccine movement has only risen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and he has secured a relatively strong standing in polling of the Democratic primary against President Joe Biden.

“There is not a charitable view toward me in the mainstream media,” Kennedy said on SiriusXM. “And, you know, the only thing I would say is that I would urge people not to believe the things that they’re reading about me in the mainstream media, but, you know, listen to my own words and not accept the characterizations as necessarily true.”

“There seems to be an almost frantic need to discredit me, to marginalize me, to vilify me,” he added.

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