Mike Waltz warns NATO may be little help in Ukraine
Image via Twitter.

waltz
'I don't see the Germans getting on board, the Turks, or a number of other countries.'

U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz said Friday that the United States may have to consider more “bilateral” action in Ukraine, given a wobbly NATO alliance.

Waltz, appearing on the Fox News Channel, specifically expects Germany to be a sticking point, given its dependency on Russia for natural gas.

The Defense Department put 8,500 American troops into a status of increased readiness earlier this week. Waltz noted, however, that this contingent is part of a NATO “rapid reaction” force that may be more virtual than actual.

This force exists “on paper,” Waltz noted, but has “never been fully exercised.”

“The NATO Response Force has never been used and it takes unanimous consent from all 30 NATO countries to be able to actually activate and utilize it, and I don’t see the Germans getting on board, the Turks, or a number of other countries,” Waltz said.

“I think we need much more of a bilateral support between the United States and Ukraine, rather than whole reliance on NATO, because they’re compromised because they’re completely dependent on Russia — particularly Germany,” Waltz added.

The Congressman contended that the forces amassed by Russia near the Ukraine border are reservists and National Guard members, “whose sole purpose is occupation duty.”

“That does lean us more and more toward a full invasion,” Waltz cautioned.

He warned that Ukraine needs “more sophisticated weaponry,” as well as assurances America would support “Ukrainian resistance” forces in a post-invasion scenario.

“That’s not boots on the ground. That’s supplies and resources and lethal aid,” Waltz said, saying that commitment would only be if Putin “decides that this could turn into a bloody quagmire for him.”

By convincing Putin that an invasion would be “incredibly difficult militarily,” Waltz hopes that could “deter” the invasion altogether.

While Waltz expects that invasion is imminent, Ukrainian and Russian officials aren’t quite as worried.

Responding to a Joe Biden assertion that a “distinct possibility” exists for a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russian leaders “don’t want a war,” as the Associated Press reports. The AP also quotes Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov telling Parliament that the troop buildup is similar to levels last spring.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


4 comments

  • Ron Ogden

    January 28, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    NATO–no damn good. Donald Trump had their number. Of course, the careerists wouldn’t listen. Now people like Biden and Blinken and blunder are getting us into a two-front war with bigger, angrier rivals. Not going to turn out well, particularly for those of us in Florida.

    • See a Russian, kill a russian.

      January 28, 2022 at 11:18 pm

      Good thing cowards like you weren’t send to fight the big angry Nazi’s.

      Its simple, everyone willing should help the Ukrainians to kill russians till they flee back to their cave mentality “nation”.

      That midget dictator will be forced to run away when enough rusky coffins arrive in their failed state

  • Matthew Lusk

    January 31, 2022 at 10:55 am

    Did not NATO sign a treatY years ago that they would move no farther to the east. The global bankers still salivate over Russia and Iran. The color revolution in Ukraine by the Globalists has led to thousands dead, billions in destruction, billions stolen.. Lock up Soros, Biden and Miley.

  • politics

    February 1, 2022 at 9:46 pm

    Ukraine 50,000 us d after alliance 1,450,000 to 5 million plus

Comments are closed.


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