The U.S. must provide military aid to Ukraine because the Eastern European country's objective to defeat Russia is "just," according to a former NATO supreme allied commander.
Retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis appeared Sunday on John Catsimatidis radio show and discussed Ukraine's plight in its war against Russia.
"It’s a very dangerous situation and here, the real action is actually not in Kyiv. The real action is in Washington," Stavridis said on "The Cat's Roundtable" on WABC 770 AM-N.Y. "We've got to provide the military support to Ukraine. Their cause is just."
Lawmakers last week left Washington, D.C., for an extended holiday break without agreeing on a package that will provide support to Ukraine.
President Joe Biden urged Congress to approve an additional $61 billion in new aid for Ukraine's war effort, but conservative Republicans have demanded the support be paired with stronger border security laws to deal with the migrant crisis.
The White House has warned that it will run out of money to send to Ukraine on Dec. 30, The Hill reported.
Stavridis told Catsimatidis that Ukraine desperately needs the help that the U.S. can and should provide.
Saying that half of the Russian army has been destroyed without any U.S. soldiers being killed "or even placed at risk," Stavridis added that Ukraine has thwarted President Vladimir Putin's forces so far with "the equivalent of 5%" of the annual U.S. defense budget.
"We can afford to do this, and we should. So I'm worried about the war in Ukraine only if the U.S. and our European allies fail to live up to the commitment we’ve made to support Ukraine," Stavridis said.
The retired admiral spoke following news that Ukrainian forces are suffering from a shortage of artillery shells on the front line, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
Ukrainian troops have been forced to cancel planned assaults, and there are fears over how long Kyiv’s troops can hold their ground against continuing Russian attacks.
Little more than three weeks ago, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told The Associated Press that the war had entered a new stage, with winter expected to complicate fighting after a summer counteroffensive that failed to produce desired results due to enduring shortages of weapons and ground forces.
"Look, we are not backing down, I am satisfied. We are fighting with the second [best] army in the world, I am satisfied," he told AP.
"We are losing people, I’m not satisfied. We didn’t get all the weapons we wanted, I can’t be satisfied, but I also can’t complain too much."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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