Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, took to Twitter on Monday to criticize Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis amid ongoing tensions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.

The Democrat said DeSantis and other members of the "Hard Right" were to blame for being "more comfortable excusing Putin rather than condemning him."

"This isn’t hard: Putin is a threat to American national security and democracy," Schumer wrote in a tweet that quoted DeSantis as previously referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a "territorial dispute."

Schumer’s tweet came after Putin announced he would be moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus by the summer as the war in Ukraine, which crossed the one-year milestone last month, continues. 

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DeSantis previously described ongoing fighting in the eastern Donbas region as a regional conflict and seemingly downplayed its significance to U.S. national security.

The Republican's remark was made in a written response to Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sent questions to declared and potential GOP presidential candidates.

​"While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party — becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them," DeSantis wrote in his answer.

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The governor has since walked back the comment, following criticism by fellow Republicans and supporters, clarifying during an interview with Piers Morgan on Fox Nation that Russia did not have a right to Ukraine and that he should have been "more clear" in his initial answer.

"What I’m referring to is where the fighting is going on now, which is that eastern border region Donbas, and then Crimea, and you have a situation where Russia has had that. I don’t think legitimately, but they had," DeSantis said during an interview that aired Thursday. "There’s a lot of ethnic Russians there. So, that’s some difficult fighting, and that’s what I was referring to, and so it wasn’t that I thought Russia had a right to that, and so if I should have made that more clear, I could have done it."

Schumer’s tweet failed to point out that DeSantis walked back the comment.

His tweet also did not point out the criticism he received from Republicans, who principally disagreed.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio suggested DeSantis was inexperienced with international relations, saying he "doesn’t deal with foreign policy every day as governor." 

"Foreign policy is all about nuance," he added.

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina told Fox News that DeSantis "is basically taking the Chinese position when it comes to Russia’s invasion."

Schumer’s tweet also does not mention that Democrats are actually in control of the White House and the U.S. Senate — and can impact foreign policy while DeSantis cannot. 

Democrats were also in control of the White House and the U.S. Senate when Putin annexed Crimea in 2014. 

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When Republicans gained control of the White House, under former President Donald Trump between 2016 and 2020, Putin did not invade Ukrainian territory. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Russia fired several anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Japan, according to its defense ministry.

Moscow said Tuesday its military was conducting a simulated missile attack, involving two of its boats firing on a mock enemy warship about 60 miles away.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the target was successfully hit by two Moskit cruise missiles. The Moskit, whose official NATO-designated name is the SS-N-22 Sunburn, is a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile that can carry conventional payloads or nuclear warheads.

The ministry said the exercise took place in the Peter the Great Gulf, a waterway along Russia’s eastern border in the Sea of Japan. The Kremlin did not give more precise coordinates.

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The gulf acts as the Russian Pacific Fleet headquarters at Fokino and is approximately 430 miles from Japan's northern Hokkaido Island.

Japanese Foreign Ministry Tasuku Matsuki said Japan does not plan to lodge a protest over the missile exercise as the location where it was carried out — Peter the Great Bay — is considered Russian coast, although the water is between the two countries.

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"On the whole, Japan is concerned about Russia’s increasing military activities around the Japanese coasts and watching them with great interest," Matsuki said.

Russian forces have conducted similar missile drills in that area in the past and issued maritime advisories ahead of time.

The Japanese foreign minister did not comment on Russia’s intention of the exercise.

The Indo-Pacific region remains tense as Russian nuclear-capable Tu-95 bombers flew over the Sea of Japan for several hours last week, North Korea has conducted its own ballistic missile tests in the sea and the U.S. and China have mobilized several ships in the surrounding areas. Also, the U.S. and South Korea participated in their springtime joint military drills, which included the flighting of a B-52 bomber over the Korean Peninsula.

In September, Japan protested military exercises Russian held on the Kuril Islands — some of which are claimed by Japan. Tokyo has similarly expressed concern about Russian and Chinese warships conducting shooting drills in the Sea of Japan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.