GOP Sen. Sullivan: Biden Administration Needs ‘More Clarity’ on Whether Ukraine Support Includes Crimea

Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Biden administration needed to clarify whether U.S. support for the Ukraine war extends to Russian-occupied Crimea.

Partial transcript as follows:

CHUCK TODD: Let me just start with debates that you heard from the National Security Advisor there. What do you think victory looks like for Ukraine?

SULLIVAN: Well, you know, I think just to begin with, looking at the past year we need to recognize how we got here, what mistakes were made, and what we can do going forward. I think one element that the National Security Advisor doesn’t talk about, I think it was clearly some of the Biden administration’s weakness on issues like energy, national defense, and, clearly, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that emboldened Putin to undertake the brutal invasion of Ukraine. I think, though, that now that we are in this battle, it’s strongly in our interest to continue to support the Ukrainians to restore their territorial integrity and their sovereignty without committing U.S. forces. But you know, Chuck, your interview actually highlighted one of the problems. Jake Sullivan is talking about, “Well, we’re not going to do F-16s today. That’s for another time, not right now.” That has been a pattern with this administration from the beginning, where they have slow rolled critical military weapons systems. You know, it’s a long list. It’s Patriots, it’s HIMARS, it’s tanks, and now it’s F-16s. And, to me, that is a real blunder. We need to get them what they need now and listen to the Ukrainians not, as he said, the policymakers. They’ve proven their ability to fight bravely, and I think we need to do a much better job. Took nine months to get them the Patriots, and I fear the same thing is happening right now with the F-16s – you just saw it right now with the National Security Advisor.

TODD: Do you want the administration to speak with more clarity on restoring the entire territorial integrity of Ukraine pre-2014, which, of course, means Crimea?

SULLIVAN: Well, I think you saw the unease that Jake Sullivan demonstrated when you were pressing him on that. I do agree that this is going to be up to the Ukrainians and Zelenskyy. We need to give them, like I said, the weapon systems to undertake that. But I think they should be more clear. I think it should be all the territorial integrity of the entire country, which includes Crimea. And so yes, I think they need more clarity on that. And the national security advisor didn’t demonstrate it in his interview with you today.

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