Biden has blood on his hands.
The message from the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, is that Ukrainians are dying because the Biden administration isn’t providing weapons and supplies to Ukraine’s military forces fast enough.
Speaking to Fox News, Turner said the Biden administration had to “step up.” That despite the administration “publicly making statements of commitments” to give Ukraine weapons, “they’ve been very slow to do so.”
He added that delayed response “has cost Ukrainian lives.”
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an impassioned plea to Congress in a virtual address, asking U.S. assistance to institute a no-fly zone and requesting additional military equipment.
Later on Wednesday, Biden announced the U.S. was sending an additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine to assist Ukrainian forces battling Russia.
Hours before the White House announcement Turner said that the air war Zelenskyy was describing was Russians “shooting missiles into residential areas and dropping bombs on people who are trying to evacuate.”
He added that Ukrainians needed “surface-to-air missiles” to contest their airspace.
Following Biden’s announcement, the White House revealed the additional military aid would include anti-aircraft systems, unmanned aerial systems, anti-armor systems, body armor, rifles, and ammunition.
Wednesday’s announcement came days after the U.S. revealed it would be rushing a further $200 million in small arms, anti-aircraft, and anti-tank defenses to Ukraine, bringing U.S. supply of defensive equipment to Ukraine to $2 billion.
In the interview with Fox News, Turner also indicated that Biden should exert more confidence when dealing with Russia, saying the President seemed “timid and afraid of what Russia may do as opposed to being appalled at what Russia is doing.”
He added, “When [Russian President Vladimir Putin] threatens nations with nuclear weapons, he means it,” continuing by saying that when Putin says “he wants to reconstitute the geographical area of the Soviet Union, he means it.”
