On “CNN Newsroom” on Friday, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) said that President Joe Biden repeatedly rejected Ukraine’s requests for weapons but ultimately changed his mind, which effectively led to a US strategy to ensure Ukraine didn’t win.
“What’s frustrating, frankly, is that I understand that the president has been cautious about escalating from day one of the war, but the request from Ukraine [are] “The answer is always no at first … and then it becomes yes. And unfortunately, that’s what’s causing Ukraine to delay responding to this issue. And, frankly, I think Russia is targeting that.”
Moderator Jim Sciutto then asked, “The criticism of the slow progress of these weapons decisions over the last few months, maybe two years, is that the United States has no plan for Ukraine to win this war, essentially only a plan for holding ground, holding the line, not losing too much territory, defending itself, etc. Do you agree with that criticism?”
Quigley responded: “I think that’s what has done it. President Biden and those who support Ukraine have always wanted Ukraine to win and have certainly given them a lot of help. Some of the issues that we’re talking about, the delays in weapons, have done that. I think it’s fair to remember what President Zelensky said to Congress. He said, help us win quickly. And I think there’s another reason to be concerned about it, and that’s a war of attrition. Ukraine has a third of Russia’s population. And Putin is prepared to use conscripts, prisoners, to use his own people as shells in this fight. Ukraine is not going to do that. That has very dangerous effects, and I’m concerned that Putin feels he can just wait and manipulate what the United States and our Western allies will or won’t do to win the war.”
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