Mike Pence: Start 'Berlin Airlift for the 21st Century' for Ukraine

The Biden administration should "immediately" transfer MiG fighter jets now in Poland to Ukraine, and continue to provide ground-based anti-aircraft systems, but first, humanitarian aid is needed for the refugees and people remaining in Ukraine while it has come under attack from Russia, former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday.

"We need a Berlin Airlift for the 21st century," Pence said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "We need to marshal the resources of the free world and make sure that the beleaguered people of Ukraine suffering under this invasion have the food and the water, and the medicine they need to prevail."

He also called for humanitarian assistance for the Ukrainians that have been unable to get out.

"My wife, Karen, and I were in Poland two weeks ago," Pence said. "We went to the border and went into Ukraine with Franklin Graham and we saw the incredible heartbreaking images of women and children by the thousands coming across the border."

Meanwhile, it's vital that Ukraine's military gets the equipment it needs to fight back the Russians' attacks.

"They've got pilots in Ukraine that know how to fly [the MiGs]," Pence said of the Soviet-era jets. "But just as important, we need to continue to provide the kind of ground-based anti-aircraft systems that can take out Russian aircraft that are doing the high stratosphere bombing."

He also insisted that the Trump administration "armed the Ukrainian military" and now the military is using those weapons to fight back against Russia.

"The Obama-Biden administration only sent them meals and blankets," he told "Fox and Friends." "We armed the Ukrainian military."

Pence, who was speaking from Seoul, South Korea, commented that the Biden administration has to redouble its efforts to help Ukraine win.

"We've got to give them the tools to be able to defend themselves," said Pence. "We've got to isolate Russia even more than was announced today, and we need to launch that massive Western humanitarian effort for the people of Ukraine. That's the pathway to victory."

Pence, however, said he is glad President Joe Biden has increased sanctions on Russia, but thinks the administration was "frankly slow" on that.

"They failed to provide even a threat of a significant deterrent," said Pence. "But right now what we ought to be doing is redoubling our effort to give President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian military everything they need to defend themselves. We need to continue to increase economic pressure."

Pence added that while he has been in South Korea, he has met with many congressional leaders and called on them to stand with the United States and its allies to isolate Russia economically.

Ukraine's military, he added, has demonstrated that they can hold the Russians and even turn them back, but more pressure needs to be put on Russia economically.

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