Republicans slam Biden for his ‘mixed message’ in refusing to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

Senator John Cornyn suggested that the Biden administration should not take fighter jets off the tables.

“I think this is something we need to consider carefully,” he told DailyMail.com.

“We should provide the Ukrainians with everything they can use effectively to defeat the Russian invasion,” the Texas Republican added. “Management has been a little slow to get them what they need.”

He said that the United States should not worry about upsetting Russia.

‘The Russians claim these moves are ‘escalations’ for over a year, all we do. At some point we have to realize that they are just bluffing.

Asked Monday if the United States would send the fighter jets Kyiv is striving to receive, Biden responded with a simple “no.”

On Tuesday, Biden said he was going to “talk” to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about Ukraine’s latest request for sophisticated weapons, after he last week agreed to send 31 Abrams tanks that he once said could result in World War III. .

Ukraine said it would continue to push for the planes, noting that the United States had refused to provide other weapons, such as tanks, before eventually conceding.

‘All kinds of assistance at the beginning went through the ‘no’ stage. This means ‘no’ from today,’ said Oleksii Reznikov, the defense minister.

Biden also said “I’m not sure” when asked if he would be taking a trip to Europe next month to mark the first anniversary of the Russian invasion on February 24.

Biden said he would visit neighboring Poland, the Ukraine, but did not know when.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., who spearheaded the push to send F-16s to Ukraine, tweeted that Biden’s comment marked “another example of not seizing the moment.”

On Tuesday, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnaht was quoted by the Ukrainian media as saying that Kyiv needs up to 200 multi-role fighter jets, such as F-16s, to defend its skies.

He said Russia’s warplanes currently outnumber Ukraine’s by five or six to one.

Last week, ahead of Biden’s comments, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said in an interview with MSNBC that the United States would discuss fighter jets “very carefully” with Kyiv and its allies.

“We have not ruled out or included any specific system,” he said.

Asked if Biden has ruled out fighter jets, Senator Thom Tillis, RNC, told DailyMail.com: “I think it would not be wise to leave that off the table for a possible future move.”

He added that senators had yet to receive a briefing after the U.S. turnaround on tanks and other offensive weapons, but questioned what next in the “proper sequence” of helping Ukraine win the war.

“We’ve got a lot of things moving there, we’re talking about tanks, we’re talking about armored personnel carriers, plus some of the missile defense systems, HIMARS, patriots,” Tillis said. “In general, I think we need to keep the discussion going, but the question is based on the best military advice from our Department of Defense on what is the appropriate order and timing to have the best impact.”

Senator Josh Hawley, who has been vocal about wanting the US to focus less on Ukraine and more on China, told DailyMail.com that Biden took the F-16s off the table: “I have no idea which It’s their policy.”

Hawley charged that the United States had agreed to send the Abrams tanks, agreeing to Germany’s insistence that it would not be the only Western country to commit to providing tanks.

In the weeks before the announcement about the US tanks, Biden had pleaded with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to release the nation’s Leopard 2 tanks to send to Ukraine.

The Kyiv forces were convinced that if Western tanks were not on the front lines come spring, Ukraine would be unable to fight off the impending Russian offensive and launch one of its own.

Germany did not want to bear the brunt of Russia’s wrath by becoming the first to offer Ukraine the new main weapon system.

Biden’s announcement of the Abrams tanks came alongside the announcement that Germany would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks. The United States is also providing 500 armored vehicles as part of the package.

Almost a year ago, Biden said that sending tanks would cause World War III.

‘The idea that we’re going to send offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains with American pilots and American aircrews, just get it… that’s called World War III, okay? Let’s get it straight here, guys,’ he said last March. ‘We will not fight the third world war in the Ukraine.’

“Our message to the Germans in particular and to the Europeans in general should be: you must take the lead in Europe and we will take the lead with China,” Hawley said.

“The Biden administration is sending a message that we will watch to lead the defense of Ukraine, we will watch what comes next in the proxy war with Russia and the Europeans can sit down. So it’s a wide variety of mixed messages.’

Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned whether it would be effective to use F-16s in Ukraine given the “reach and range” of Russian anti-aircraft systems, and whether Ukrainian pilots could be trained to use them. quickly.

“The biggest problem here is that no one can tell you what the long-term plan is for Ukraine,” he told DailyMail.com.

“Part of that plan would tell you what you need and what you don’t need.”