A.G. Gancarski
Sen. Rick Scott on Monday addressed the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and said it’s possible Vladimir Putin won’t stop there.
The Senator, appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” outlined the difficulty of the American position against an increasingly aggressive Putin, noting the problems posed by Russia’s nuclear status.
“If we just say, ‘Oh, if someone has a nuclear weapon we’re just going to give them everything, then just go home.’ We can’t do that. Where is the line? Is the line going to be Poland?”, Scott asked.
Noting “the Ukrainian people are standing up” currently to the Russian invasion, Scott urged supplying the anti-Russian forces with munitions to fight back, but stopped short of advocating direct military involvement by the U.S.
“We need to provide the Ukrainian people with every resource, including planes,” Scott said. “We should not say we’re not going to do something. Say, ‘Look, everything is on the table. We’re going to figure this out every day.'”
He continued outlining the U.S. thought process during this stage.
“Whenever you’re going through something like this, you say, ‘What can I do (at) this moment?’ Whether you’re dealing with a hurricane or you’re dealing with a war, what can we be doing in this moment?” Scott said.
“Give the Ukrainians the planes that we can give them. They’re not asking American troops to come in and fight for them. They’re willing to fight for their own freedom,” Scott said. “Give them the planes, give them the ammunition, give them the anti-tank missiles, the air missiles. Give them everything you can to defend themselves, and they will defend themselves.”
Saying Russia’s Putin was guilty of “war crimes,” Scott urged listeners to put themselves in the shoes of the besieged Ukrainians.
“We all just think about our own families, and what we would want if this was happening in our country,” Scott said. “We’d want everybody in the world to show up and help us.”
