Biden administration efforts to pacify Russian leader Vladimir Putin have come to cost Ukraine, according to one Republican congressman. R...
Biden administration efforts to pacify Russian leader Vladimir Putin have come to cost Ukraine, according to one Republican congressman.
Republican Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida last week blew the whistle on the administration’s foot-dragging while it was trying to avoid angering Putin, according to Breitbart News.
Waltz revealed that Stinger weapons, sophisticated shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, were held back in December and January — even though the Biden White House had promised them to Ukraine.
“The Stingers didn’t start arriving until about a week ago. They should have had them. They should have had them on day one. Those things should have been shooting up from Kharkiv, from Kyiv, from the border,” he said.
Waltz said Ukrainian representatives were deeply concerned during the weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine — weeks when the Biden administration predicted Ukraine would be swiftly crushed.
“The Ukrainians that I met with were incredibly frustrated in December that they didn’t, they weren’t getting what they asked for,” he said. “How much more effective would they be right now if they had more Javelins, more body armor, more Stingers?”
Stinger missiles were on Ukraine’s shopping list in November when the world began to learn that Russian troops had begun to surround Ukraine. However, as noted by CNN, the Biden White House was trying to avoid any actions that could trigger the invasion that ultimately came.
Waltz, a former Green Beret, visited Ukraine in December; at that time, members of the Florida National Guard were undergoing training in Ukraine, but they have since returned home or moved to Poland.
The aid figures that have been circulating appear to have come from thin air, he said, rather than Ukraine’s needs.
“Where did $350 million come from? Why not $250 million? Why not $500 million? Why that number, was that a needs-based assessment? If you look at the breakdown, it’s really not enough. It’s about enough to equip a battalion,” he said, Breitbart reported.
“I don’t think what we’re providing is what the Ukrainians need. It’s nowhere near what they need. Even if you start adding up the other allied contributions. It’s nowhere near,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s stand has been critical to reminding the world that the war is not a fight for land, but one for freedom.
“The main thing you need is a demonstrated will to fight and Zelenskyy has galvanized his population, and the Russians have made a strategic mistake in not being able to shut down the commercial internet. Every day that [Zelenskyy] is on television, the Europeans have been shamed into doing more,” he said.
“I think he has done far more than what Biden has taken credit in terms of unifying NATO, galvanizing the world and unifying his own people,” he said.
Long-term support for a war that will involve block-by-block fighting will be critical, he said.
“So I think this is going to grind into a protracted war. And therefore … logistics is what matters the most,” he said, stating the Ukrainian insurgency needs to attack the Russian invaders.
“If the insurgency can cut off the logistics and supply lines, which will be very vulnerable in spring because it’ll be totally confined to the roads, then that’s how they’ll have a fighting chance,” he said. “Logistics is what wins wars.”
Russia is failing in that regard, he said, with Russia short on key weapons not replenished after use in Syria.
“That’s part of the reason they haven’t been able to establish air dominance — literally not enough bombs, missiles, spare parts for their planes, which I think is a really important dynamic. We just assumed that they’ve got unlimited amount of stuff, but high-end precision stuff, they don’t have nearly as much as you think,” he said.
Zelenskyy needs to survive to hold support together, he said.
“On one hand, I admire Zelenskyy in standing strong and all his great quotes, but on the other hand, over the long term, he has to live, he has to survive, he has to keep his government intact. And I can certainly see a scenario where he displaces to Lviv, stays inside Ukraine,” he explained.
“For the United States, that is much cleaner and easier for us to support the ongoing government than if that government is overthrown, and now we’re supporting a guerrilla movement against the Ukrainian government.”
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